Jack and the Travelers
by YT1
Summary: A Samurai Jack/Chrono Trigger crossover. A time jump gone wrong sends Crono, Marle and Lucca to Aku's version of Earth. They have to find a way to repair the Epoch and get home - while avoiding Aku's attempts to kill them!
1. Introduction and Acknowledgements

Jack and the Travelers

A _Samurai Jack/Chrono Trigger_ crossover by YT

_Samurai Jack_ was created by Gennedy Tartakovsky, and it airs on Cartoon Network.  _Chrono Trigger_ is a Super Nintendo game created by Square.  I use elements from these stories without permission but with a great deal of love and respect – and no intention of making money from this story, so please don't sue me.

Some other "borrowed" elements:

 Noon-forged steel: From Diane Duane's _So You Want to be a Wizard_

The song in Chapter 8: Billy Joel's _She's Always a Woman to Me_    

If you want to reproduce this story in full or in part, please give me credit for writing it.

An original character from one of my other fics, _The Man in White,_ is a character in this tale, and a scene from that story is also paraphrased in here (as a flashback), so it might be a good idea to read that one first – though you can still understand and enjoy the story without doing so.

That said, let's get on with the show.  Please read, enjoy and review.


	2. Prologue: Turning Leaves

~***~

_Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape-shifting master of darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil. But a foolish samurai warrior, wielding a magic sword, stepped forth to oppose me._

Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time, and flung him into the future, where my evil is law.

_Now, the fool seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that is Aku._

~***~

Prologue: Turning Leaves

It was a cool, crisp day, at the time of year when the flame of fall is catching, when the red and yellow and brown and orange are starting to appear in the green. On a wooded mountainside above a forested valley, a man was walking down a dirt path. He wore, from the top down, a wide-brimmed straw hat, a white robe and a pair of wooden sandals. A long, slim sword with a slightly curved blade was sheathed at his hip.  The man held his hands together, tucked into his sleeves, keeping his eyes on the path before him so as to place his feet more surely. He took no notice of the first falling leaves, spinning like dancers in the breeze around him, until a single red leaf blew across his path.

He reached out and snatched the leaf with a suden movement, then examined it carefully – it was a maple leaf, all bright crimson but for a patch of green at its heart. For some reason it gave him a sense of _déjà vu_. The man held it before him, peered at it, until the familiar feeling blossomed into memory.

~***~

_ The little boy is fascinated by the red leaf. He holds it up to the sunlight and sees the little veins in it. There are many other leaves on the ground. Others are falling from the branches, catching in his hair and clothes._

_ He picks up a yellow leaf, so he has one leaf in each hand, and runs around with his arms outstretched, imitating the cry of a falcon. He dives into a great pile of leaves and, laughing, emerges from them, covered in red and yellow and orange._

_ It gives him an idea._

_ He starts picking up the brightest leaves he can find. He stuffs them into his sash, into the folds of his clothes, into his sleeves, until he is a riot of bright colors. He picks up some more and holds them in front of his face, then runs to his mother._

_ She is sitting on a cushion on a grassy knoll, tuning her shamisen. She looks up as her son charges up to her, then claps her hands to her cheeks in mock horror. Her son throws the leaves in all directions while letting forth a roar as fearsome as a four-year-old can manage. His mother emits a little shriek, her eyes sparkling with mirth. The boy roars again and jumps into her arms, and they both collapse in a fit of giggles._

~***~

Jack held the leaf up to the sun, contemplating the tiny patch of green nestled at its heart. The wind tugged at it – he let it go, to ride the breeze in whichever direction it was heading. He surveyed the valley below him, a tapestry of cool green and flame colors, with a river wending its way through like a sapphire ribbon. Beyond, the trees petered out into rocky foothills which continued for a few miles before rising into mountains again. Birds flew overhead, and leaves danced everywhere. A perfect landscape for a painted screen. Jack stood and sighed, taking some time to contemplate the view.

Suddenly, from somewhere above and behind him, there was a loud _boom_ that shook the trees and frightened birds from the branches. In a single movement, Jack drew his sword and leapt into the forest by the side of the path. Then he looked up and saw the source of the noise.

A shining white lozenge, wreathed in flame, passed overhead at a ridiculous speed, curving gradually towards the ground. He ran back out to the road so as to see where it was heading. The bright thing skimmed the tops of the trees in the valley some miles ahead, then disappeared from view – but he could see smoke rising up from where it had landed.

Sheathing his sword, Jack continued his descent, going a little faster this time. He did not know what that thing was, but his instincts told him that he ought to take an interest in it. He would probably be able to reach it by sunset.

~***~

The _Epoch_ emitted small pinging noises as its hull cooled. After ploughing a rather long and wide furrow into the ground, it had come up against a large rock and was now more on its side than on its belly. Coils of smoke rose up from the ground around it. Flames flickered in the branches of some of the trees behind the ship but, fortunately, they were dying down.

The canopy opened, and Crono was the first to hop out onto the ground. Marle followed him, coughing at the smoke, then Lucca joined them.

"Nice landing, Lucca," Marle remarked, looking at the ship. "When are we?"

Lucca pulled a small sensor device off her belt and began moving it back and forth, looking for information. The machine emitted little beeps as it worked.

"I don't know. We had a malfunction in the middle of the jump, so I don't think we're at one of _Epoch_'s set times. We're somewhere in between 1000 A.D. and 2300. That's all I can tell you."

Crono looked at the _Epoch_, and at the embarrassingly long swath of destruction that it had left in its path. "Didn't even scratch the paint," he observed, "But we did a number on the trees. How fast were we going?"

"_Way_ over the local speed limit, probably," Marle said.

~***~

In his citadel of flames, Aku watched the three newcomers as they climbed onto the rock and looked at their surroundings. Their arrival had been rather difficult to miss.

The red-haired one, the boy, was wearing a sword at his side. With a focus of will, Aku expanded the image so that he could take a closer look.

His eyes widened. It was a katana, no doubt about it.

"_Another_ samurai!" he growled. "But this one is only a boy. He will be easily dealt with…"


	3. Chapter 1: Bug Trouble

Chapter 1: Bug Trouble

            Once the _Epoch_ had cooled down enough to be safe, the three had gotten their equipment out of it and taken stock.  They had their weapons, some food and water, bedrolls, packs, cloaks and various portable gadgets that Lucca used.  Since it was late in the day and they were much shaken up by their ordeal, they decided to set up camp in the lee of the rock against which their ship was leaning.  Crono and Marle gathered firewood, while Lucca checked out the _Epoch_.

            "What's the verdict?" Crono asked her when she finished.  He could tell by the look on her face that it wasn't good.

            "We're out of gas," Lucca responded.  "I don't think Belthasar anticipated that we would be using it after our mission was over."

            "Out of _gas_?" Marle sputtered.

            Lucca grimaced.  "Looks that way.  The computer system's working but it can't fly or jump.  I tried to figure out where and when we are from the sensor readouts but it keeps coming up 'inconclusive.'"

            "What does _Epoch_ use for fuel, anyway?" Crono queried.  "Plutonium or something?"

            "No, nothing like that.  Something more like jet fuel.  I got a sample of it from the tank, so I know what its components are.  Since we're in the future, not the past, we can probably find some in a city or something.  In the meantime, we'd better make sure that nobody takes the ship."  Lucca got into the cockpit again and pressed a switch.  The lights and displays on the control panels faded out.  She then opened one of the panels, revealing the circuitry beneath, and pulled out a palm-sized computer chip.  "Should be this one," she muttered, and pressed the power switch again.  Nothing happened.  Satisfied, Lucca put the chip in a pouch on her belt and got out of the cockpit.  Then she pulled the canopy closed – it had a manual release lever and no lock, so they would have no problem getting it open again later.  Lucca jumped off the ship and came to join Crono and Marle in setting up camp.

            Marle was trying to rub two sticks together to light the fire, and not having any luck.  "Lucca, could you please?…" she said, pointing to the tent of wood.

            "Step back," Lucca said.  Crono and Marle moved away from it.  Lucca pointed her finger at the kindling.  Nothing happened.  Behind her glasses, Lucca's eyes went wide in consternation.

            "I can't find the magic," she said numbly.  "It's not there."

            Crono felt a twinge of panic and searched with his mind, trying to tap into the electrical pulse that ran beneath the skin of reality.  There was nothing there.  A ball of ice grew in his stomach.

            Marle's eyes were practically popping out of her head.  She was trembling a little.  "No magic…"

            "No magic, no _Epoch_, and no clue," Crono said.  "We just have to hope that we won't need it, I guess.  Let me try something else."  He looked around and found a small, sharp stone.  He drew his sword and held it near to the wood.  The girls watched him curiously.

            Crono began striking the stone against the metal, and sparks came up at each contact.  Finally, some of them caught on the dry leaves that they were using as kindling, and a small flame began.  Crono nursed it carefully until it became a fire.

            "All right Crono!" Marle cheered.  Crono smiled at her.  Lucca started rummaging around in her pack for some food.

            "Well, now we have a fire, and we know we can get fuel.  We'll just have to find it.  We've been in worse situations before.  We'll get through this one just fine."  Marle grinned, her usual brightness returning.  "At least nobody's trying to kill us."

            That statement was discredited within the next few seconds, as a number of things happened.  Some kind of craft flew low overhead – something black and unpleasant to the eye, that barely made a whisper in passing – and dropped several large spheres of black metal around the area.  Another craft followed, dropping more of the things, and then two more followed.  One of the spheres landed right in the fire, and the three friends jumped back so as not to get hit with flaming pieces of wood.  Sensing danger, they got their weapons ready.  There was a rasp as Crono drew his sword, a soft whine as Lucca's gun powered up, a crackling as a bolt materialized in Marle's crossbow.

            As one, the spheres began to unroll, becoming large insects with multi-faceted eyes of blue crystal.  They had curved blades on the ends of their forelegs.  The closer ones rose up onto their hindlegs and raised the blades threateningly.

            "What was that about nobody trying to kill us?" Crono commented as the three gathered back to back to back.  Then the first robot beetles leaped at them.

            Lucca took out one of them with a well-aimed shot, and Marle did the same for another.  Crono, his Rainbow sword flashing, sheared the head off one that tried to take a swipe at him.

            "How many are there?" Lucca shouted as she snapped off a couple of quick shots.

            "Too many!" Crono responded, impaling a bot that got too close.  One of the beetles jumped into the air, and the three had to scatter in order to avoid being crushed.

            The beetles moved in quickly, cutting them off from each other, pushing them farther apart.  Crono's blade was whirling as he fended off the clustering adversaries.  Lucca and Marle had to shoot like mad just to stay alive.

            But there were too many of them, coming too fast.  A swipe of the scythe cut Lucca's hand and knocked her gun from it.  Marle had shot the scythe off one of the beetles, so she was knocked down instead of impaled when it took a swing at her.  Her bow bounced over the rocks.  "Crono!  Help!" she cried.

            Crono was having his own problems – his blade was able to shear through the bodies of the robots, but the scythes were of a material to match his sword.  He was straining to keep a blade from coming down on him.  Lucca had managed to get to him and was fending off the robots as best she could with a metal pipe she had taken out of the _Epoch_'s trunk.  If only they had their magic!

            Crono watched in horror as the bot standing over Marle raised its remaining scythe, getting ready to impale her on the point.  He heard her scream…

            And he heard another noise too, a bellowing battlecry, and saw a white blur appear out of nowhere.  It landed almost right on top of the robot threatening Marle, and with a flash of silver that robot was halved and oil was spurting from it.  Marle rolled and grabbed her crossbow, started firing with a vengeance as the robots swarmed around her again.  The white blur was already moving, toward Crono and Lucca.  It dispatched two of the robots that were menacing Lucca, then with a backswing it decapitated the robot that Crono had been struggling with.  That silver flash was a sword, but the wielder did not stay still long enough for Crono to make out who, or what, it was.  But it was certainly making short work of the robots.

            "Lucca!" Marle called, and tossed her friend's gun back to her.  Lucca caught it in midair and fired at a beetle that was trying to pounce on her.  It exploded in midair, but by that time she was already firing again.  Crono slashed at another beetle, cutting it diagonally across its body.  Another one leaped over it as it fell, and that one he cut in half.

            The white blur landed in his line of sight, and for a moment it stayed still.  In the fading light, Crono was able to make out that their rescuer was a man, who looked to be only a little taller than Crono himself.  He wore a white robe and wooden sandals, and his black hair was bound up in a topknot.  There was no time to make out anything more of the man, though, because he started moving again almost instantly in order to slash another attacking robot.  After that, Crono's attention was occupied with more of the same, and he only saw glimpses of the man as he whirled and jumped from one place to another.  He was _good._  No, he was _amazing_.

            Marle transfixed a bot with a bolt from her crossbow, and looked around.  The ground was littered with pieces of metal and circuitry, and the rocks were slick with oil.

            "I think that's all of them," Lucca concluded.  She seemed to be right, so Crono sheathed his sword.  The girls lowered their weapons.

            Everyone turned to the stranger.  He sheathed his sword with majestic finality, then looked at each of them in turn.  Though it was dark and Crono could not see the man's face very well, he was still struck by the intensity of his gaze.

            "Thank you, sir," Lucca said.  "We thought we were goners for sure.  My name's Lucca.  These are my friends, Marle and Crono."  She cocked her head to the side inquisitively.  "What's your name?"

            He placed the palms of his hands together and bowed to them.  "I am called Jack."


	4. Chapter 2: Chronological Confusion

Chapter 2: Chronological Confusion

            The name 'Jack', Marle thought, did not fit him well.  It was the…what was that word again?  The antithesis of the person who bore it.  Then again, he _had_ said that he was 'called' Jack, so it couldn't be his real name.  Marle knew all about using fake names.  But why use an alias like 'Jack,' when there were so many better names to choose from?

            She was probably the only one worrying about it.  "Nice to meet you, Jack," she said.  "Umm…can you please tell us where we are?  We're sort of lost.  We didn't mean to come here but…" she jerked her thumb in the direction of the _Epoch_.  "You get the idea." 

            Jack shook his head.  "I am afraid I cannot answer that question.  I am not familiar with this place myself."  He looked up at the sky.  "In any case, we cannot stay here.  It is dangerous – Aku will surely send more of his drones after you."

            "Aku?  Who is that?" Lucca asked.

            Jack's eyebrows shot up.  Then his brow furrowed in thought.  After a few moments he spoke.  "I will explain everything, but not here.  We must find a safe place.  Perhaps in the forest?"

            Crono nodded.  "That sounds like a good idea.  Let's get our stuff together."  He went to get his backpack and started looking around for those pieces of equipment that had been scattered during the fight.  Marle, who trusted Crono's judgment in these matters, followed suit.  Lucca was unable to find her pack at first, and Jack helped her search.  After a few minutes he found it and gave it to her.  He also picked up his straw hat, which he had left hanging on a nearby tree.

            After that, they set off into the woods, with Jack leading the way.  Lucca took a last look at the _Epoch_ before following them into the trees.

            "I hope we can find some fu_whoop!_" she exclaimed as she slipped on something.  Marle managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

            "One thing at a time," Crono said.  "Let's just focus on not getting killed first.  Watch your step," he advised.

            There was no more talking for a while after that, as they were too busy trying to make their way along.  The sun dipped below the horizon and the shadows grew.  Though the moon was nearly full, it did them little good under the canopy of leaves.  Lucca turned on the lamp attached to her helmet so that they could see, but Jack shook his head at her and she put it out.  Perhaps he was afraid it would attract attention.

            "But how are we going to stay together?" she protested.

            Marle gave it some thought.  "I know.  We have some rope in the packs, let's use that."  She walked over to Crono, who turned around so that she could get a coil of climbing rope out of his pack.  Jack tied one end around his waist.  Lucca did the same a little further along its length.  Crono was next, and Marle was last.  The rope presented its own problems, getting tangled in brambles and twigs along the way, but it was better than being lost.  Well, they were lost already; lost and alone, then.

            They traveled for many hours, until the moon was high overhead.  Marle was getting tired – she had had an unpleasant encounter with almost every object in her path, tripping on some things, getting scratched by others, and colliding with the occasional tree.  But she didn't complain.  She could take a little roughing up.

            After a while, she started to see strange things in the shadows, out of the corners of her eyes.  She could here them whispering and laughing and singing in the back of her head…

            Marle tripped and collapsed on the ground.  When she tried to get up again, she wasn't able to.

            "We have to stop," she heard Crono say from up ahead.  "We can't go any farther."  _You mean _I _can't go any farther,_ Marle thought to herself, feeling ashamed.  Crono came to her and helped her to her feet.

            Lucca and Jack came to join them.  "That is all right.  We should be safe here," he said.  "Let us rest until morning – then we will figure out what to do next."

            They couldn't see very well, so they had trouble getting themselves untied from the rope and settled down.  Marle used her pack for a pillow and her cloak for a blanket.  She curled up in a little hollow between the roots of a tree, and though she was not comfortable, her fatigue put her to sleep almost instantly.

~***~

            She woke up at dawn the next morning, when the first rays of light hit her.  She uncurled and stretched her limbs with a yawn.  Her stomach started to grumble – sleeping had made her feel better, but she was very hungry.  She was also a little chilly, so she put her cloak on.

            Crono and Lucca, who were lying nearby, weren't awake yet.  Jack was nowhere to be seen, but Marle didn't think that he was the type of person to leave three kids alone in the woods.  He would be back.  Marle took a look around.

            They were in a very small clearing, surrounded by a stand of tall oak trees.  The occasional leaf fluttered down from above.  There were birds singing in the branches, but aside from that and the rustling of leaves in a soft breeze, there was no other sound.

            Then some nearby bushes started to shake.  Marle had her crossbow in her hands and pointed at the bushes before she even thought about it.

            It was only Jack, though, who was returning with a collection of walnuts in his hat.  He nodded at Marle, who lowered her crossbow.  "Sorry," she apologized in a near-whisper.  "Not a very polite good-morning, was it?"

            He put the walnuts on the ground.  "It is all right.  I understand your caution.  How did you sleep?"

            He didn't seem very much like the person who had been kicking robot butt the previous evening.  "Just fine, thanks.  And you?"

            Lucca woke up before he could answer.  She mumbled something, sat up, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and fumbled for her glasses.  She found them and put them on.

            "Good morning, Lucca," Marle said cheerily.

            "'Morning.  How long have you guys been up?" Lucca asked.

            "Not that long," Jack answered.  He looked at Crono, who was still asleep.

            Marle crawled over to her sleeping friend.  "He's not an early riser," she explained.  Getting Crono up in the morning was a challenging task at the very least.  But she had known him long enough to figure out a few methods.  She leaned over, put two fingers in her mouth and whistled right in his ear.  She then jumped backward to avoid a collision as Crono snorted and woke with a start.

            He looked around, blinking and frowning.  "Good morning, Crono," Marle said cheerfully.  Although he was normally a very even-tempered person, he glared at her.  But he got up nonetheless.

            They ate the walnuts for breakfast, using rocks to crack the shells.  Afterwards they washed it down with water from their canteens.  Lucca offered some to Jack, but he politely declined.

            "Now," Crono said, "About that question.  Who's this Aku guy, and what has he got against us?"

            "I am surprised that you do not know of him," Jack answered.  "He is the demon who holds the world in thrall."

            Marle, Lucca and Crono exchanged glances with each other.  Then Crono nodded.  They would tell him.

            "Okay.  I can explain that," Lucca said.  "And it's going to sound ludicrous, but it's true."  She took a deep breath.  "The _Epoch_ isn't just a flying ship.  It's a time machine."

            At the words 'time machine' Jack started as if something had bitten him.  "A…time machine?"

            Lucca nodded.  "Yeah.  We're actually from the past – though since we landed here by mistake, I don't know exactly how many years it's been.  Anywhere from a few decades to a little more than a millennium," she explained.

            Jack thought about this for a moment.  "But Aku has ruled the world for more than two thousand years."  Marle was completely, utterly confused, as was Lucca.

            "Maybe we're wrong about the time, then," Crono said.  "Maybe we jumped farther than we thought or something."

            Jack shook his head.  "No.  Such technology did not exist at that time."

            "But it _did_.  The guy who built _Epoch_ was from thirteen thousand years before our time!"  Jack gave her a very odd look.  Marle realized how silly that had sounded, and she blushed.

            "Maybe," Crono suggested, "It would be best to start at the beginning?  It's a very long story, though."

            Jack stood up.  "Then tell me while we travel – we can find the river first, and then perhaps the road.  After that, where we go is up to you."__


	5. Chapter 3: The Archer in the Leaves

Chapter 3: The Archer in the Leaves

            Although they tried to simplify it as much as possible, it took them an hour to relate to Jack the complicated sequence of events which had brought them to their current situation.  The story he told them was a lot shorter and a lot simpler as he related it, which was ironic because while their story took place over a period of mere weeks (relatively speaking), his had taken place over more than two decades.

            "So we're all time travelers," Marle remarked at the end.  They were on the road now, hoping that it would lead to some city where they could get the fuel they needed for _Epoch_.  "Now that we have the whole story…Lucca, when do you think we are?"

            Lucca fiddled with her glasses, which she always did when she was thinking of how best to explain something.  "I'm not sure.  I think we might have skipped over into a whole other timeline.  This is obviously Earth, but it's a very _different_ Earth."  She looked up into the trees, pondering.  "If we get _Epoch_ refueled, it may get back into our own timeline when we make a jump.  If not…"

            Marle interrupted with a vehement "I don't even want to _think_ about that!"

            "But we can still get to the End of Time," Crono pointed out.  "I mean, that would be the same no matter what, wouldn't it?"

            Lucca shook her head and admitted, "I just don't know."

            "So we are all trapped here," Jack said.  "But we can help each other.  I will help you get the fuel for your ship, if you will take me to the End of Time – then perhaps I can find a way back to my own time."  He sounded like someone trying not to sound too hopeful.

            "Sure," Marle chirped.  "Of course we'll help!  Making trouble for evil is our business!"  She grinned triumphantly.  Jack actually cracked a smile as he bowed to her.

            _Now that we have a plan,_ Lucca thought, _things don't seem that bad._  She found that she was actually enjoying herself – beautiful fall days like this one didn't happen very often, and even if this wasn't her proper time (or timeline, for that matter), that was no reason not to appreciate it.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the crisp, spicy air.  She had no trouble believing, at that moment, that everything was going to be just fine.

            "What was that noise?" she heard Marle say with a sense of urgency.  Everyone stopped in their tracks; Jack and Crono prepared to draw their respective weapons, and Marle had her crossbow in hand.

            Lucca, however, did not react as quickly.  "What noise?" she asked, and got a very unpleasant answer.

            Something behind her screeched very loudly.  She whirled around to see a dark shape with glowing green eyes leaping at her – in that short time, she couldn't really tell what it was or even what it might resemble, but she _could_ tell that it had claws.  And teeth.  Very sharp ones.

            There wasn't time to draw her gun, so all she could do was duck and hope that the creature would pass over her head.  She heard a _twang_ and a _whoosh_ and a _thwuck_, followed by a most unnatural scream that degenerated into a gurgle and faded into silence.  All of this happened in the space of less than two seconds, but to her terror-stricken mind it seemed like forever.

            She opened her eyes.  The black thing was lying on its back on the ground, only a few inches from her.  The feathered shaft of an arrow protruded from its chest.  Then the black creature vanished in a puff of smoke; the arrow hung suspended in the air for a moment before falling to the ground.

~***~

            Crono rushed to Lucca's side, while Marle hurried to put herself between her fallen friend and the elm from which the arrow had originated, with her crossbow at the ready.  While the arrow had killed the beastie, the archer might have been intending to hit Lucca herself.  Jack, off to the side, had his sword out and was watching the tree intently.

            A figure in a hooded greenish-brown cloak dropped out of the branches of that tree, landing on the road in a crouch.  It was wearing a quiver on its back, containing arrows and a gleaming white bow.  The person rose, slowly, into a standing position, and Marle could see that it was a woman, in a pale green tunic, cream-colored leggings and supple leather boots.  A pair of pale blue-green eyes glared out at her from within the hood of the cloak, as if to say, _Do you _mind_?_  Whoever it was didn't seem to mean them any harm, so Marle lowered her crossbow.  Jack, though, did not sheathe his sword.

            Marle took a step backward so that she was standing with Crono and Lucca.  There was a silence that lasted for a few seconds, before Lucca spoke.

            "Thank you for shooting that…whatever.  My name is Lucca.  These are my friends Crono, Marle and…"

            "…Jack," the woman said.  "We've met before."  She raised her hands to her hood and pulled it back, revealing a spill of honey-colored hair, a face tanned to a pale golden brown, and a big grin.  She turned to the samurai, who was staring at her with his sword lowered and his eyes wide with surprise.  She bowed to him with a flourish.  He smiled, sheathed his sword, placed the palms of his hands together and bowed back.

            "It is good to see you again, Ketiya," he addressed her.  He stood upright again and turned to the other three.  "She is a friend of mine," he explained.

            Ketiya bowed to the three teenagers.  "Nice to meet you," she said pleasantly.  She walked toward them and shook hands with each in turn.  She had, Marle noticed, a surprisingly strong grip.

            "I hope I didn't startle you too much," she apologized to Lucca.

            Lucca shook her head.  "No, it's all right.  What _was _that thing anyway?"

            Ketiya pursed her lips.  "One of Aku's little pets.  They've been turning up around here a lot lately.  We got rid of most of them, though."  She picked up her arrow from the ground.  "But I guess we missed a few."

            "Why is Aku sending these creatures here?  And…what do you mean by 'we?'" Jack asked, peering at the spot where the black thing had fallen.

            Ketiya slipped the arrow back into the quiver.  "That," she began, "Is part of the reason for my being here.  It's not by chance that I've met you here.  I was told to look out for you and these three," she explained, indicating Crono, Marle and Lucca with a sweep of her hand.  "The Lady ordered it."

            "Who's 'The Lady?'" Crono asked her.

            Ketiya turned to him.  "That's a little difficult to explain.  But she foresaw your arrival and told me to find you."  She turned to Jack again.  "She and her people need your help.  She told me to bring you to talk with her."

            Jack looked pensive for a moment.  He turned to his traveling companions, a question in his eyes.

            Crono nodded.  "We'll help you too," he announced.  Neither Marle nor Lucca objected to this decision – they thought the same way.  "So, how do we find the Lady?"

            Ketiya moved to the trees and gestured for them to follow.  "This way, through the forest.  It's about three days' journey from here, but there's an outpost a few hours away.  We can stay there for the night.  Just watch out for more imps," she advised them.

            For the second time, though with better light and more energy, they set off into the trees, and it was not long before the road vanished behind them.


	6. Chapter 4: Telling the Future, Telling t...

Chapter 4: Telling the Future, Telling the Past

            Making their way through the trees was a lot easier by full daylight.  They also had an advantage in Ketiya, since she knew where she was going and she was a better tracker than Jack.

            She had changed since he had met her more than a year ago, although some of those changes had happened during the time that they were together.  She had not been a coward, but she had not been very courageous either, until Aku's soldiers had threatened the town they were staying in at the time.  Then, she told him, she had found new courage within herself, mostly due to his own influence on her – but exactly how and why she had done so, she had not told him.

            After that, it seemed, other changes had followed.  She wore different clothes, and carried a different bow, but those were only the most obvious things.  There was something else about her, something ephemeral and impossible to name, that was not what it had been before.  He wondered about what she had done in the time since they'd parted company last summer, and whether that had something to do with it.  Aku had put a price on her head, he knew that, but he wanted very much to know why.

            But even more, he wanted to tell her about his own adventures.  He could only imagine what her reaction might be when he told her about flying in space, or fighting the three blind archers, or rescuing the Woolies.  There were many things he wanted to tell her.  But now was not the time.  Perhaps later, when they could speak privately.  He would just have to be patient.

            At the moment, she was interested in the three young time travelers.  So, where and when do you three come from, anyway?" Ketiya asked them as she ducked under a branch.

            "The kingdom of Guardia in the year 1000 A.D.  But from what Jack's told us, Guardia never existed in this timeline," Lucca answered.  "We ended up here by accident."  She explained about the _Epoch,_ but didn't go into the backstory behind it.  It was, after all, too much to tell all over again in the same day.  Jack decided that he would tell his friend the details at a better time.

            Ketiya seemed satisfied with this minimal explanation.  "The Lady told me that you three are great warriors in your own world.  Watch out for the ditch here," she remarked.

            "Never really thought of ourselves as warriors," Crono commented.  "But I suppose you could call us that.  How does your Lady know about us, anyway?"

            Ketiya rolled her eyes.  "I've been trying to figure that one out since I met her.  But she's not one to give straight answers."  She climbed over a log.  "She just _sees_ things."

            "Like the future?" Marle asked.

            Ketiya shook her head.  "Not really.  She would say that she can see _possibilities_."

            "But just about anyone can see possibilities," Lucca objected.  "By making reasonable assumptions based on the current situation and the likelihood of a given…"

            Ketiya held up a hand and Lucca fell silent.  "You're right, but that's not what I meant.  She can see possible futures through magic, but the future isn't definite until it's happened already."  She looked at Jack thoughtfully and added, "And sometimes not even then."

            They pushed through a final clump of trees and came upon a weathered gray standing stone, half again as tall as Jack himself.  There were symbols carved on its surface, but Jack could not even guess what language it might be, let alone what it said.  He noticed that a fairly broad, dirt path began at the foot of the stone and continued in the direction that they had been walking.  Ketiya brought them to a halt.

            "This stone marks the boundary of the Lady's domain," she announced.  "From here on, we take the path.  It's not the quickest route, but it's the safest.  Even in the best of times there are evil things in this part of the forest, but now Aku's creatures are wandering around as well."  She looked at each person in turn, making sure she had their absolute attention.  "Do not, for _any_ reason, leave the path until I say it's safe.  Okay?"  Everyone nodded affirmatively.

            Ketiya stepped onto the path.  "All right.  Let's go."  The others joined her on the road.  The path was wide enough, so Jack walked beside the ranger, with the other three following behind.  It was a lot easier than trekking through the trees, and he was grateful for it.

            But after a few minutes, he began to have the uncomfortable feeling that he was being watched.  He instinctively gripped his sword hilt – Ketiya had said that the path was safe, but old habits are not easily broken.  He looked behind him and saw that the three youths were uneasy as well.  Jack narrowed his eyes and searched the trees by the side of the path, trying to find the unseen spies in the branches.  He could find none.

            Then it dawned on him.  "The _trees_ are watching us?"  He had not meant to say it out loud, but it was a _very_ unsettling revelation.

            He looked at Ketiya, who was blushing with embarrassment.  "Whoops.  I ought to have warned you about that.  It's just that I'm used to it."  No wonder she seemed different.  She could not possibly have remained unchanged after spending a long time in a place like this.

            "Are all the trees…do they all think?" Marle asked, darting furtive glances from tree to tree.

            "No, the majority of them are just regular trees," Ketiya answered.  "Maybe a third of them have minds of their own.  You learn how to tell the difference after a while."  She chuckled.  "They scared me the first time I came here, too.  But the trees won't do you any harm, if you leave them be."

            As they continued along the path, Jack saw other strange creatures, such as little people with wings and animals that peered up at them with very human eyes.  They passed a fox that was regarding them curiously.  Jack was reminded of his mother's stories about fox sprits, and he wondered if this particular fox was one of them.

            Marle, at least, seemed to be getting more comfortable with her surroundings.  She took Jack's mind off the strangeness of the place by changing the subject.  "So, I'm curious…how did you two meet each other, anyway?"  Jack and Ketiya exchanged glances and came to a consensus.  Ketiya dropped back to walk beside Marle.  

"Like many tales, this one starts with the phrase 'It was a dark and stormy night.'  Very dark and stormy.  So I decided to stay at this inn…"  She had the three youngsters hooked before very long, and even Jack himself was entertained by the way she told the story, even though he had lived it with her.  Every now and then he confirmed or corrected certain details in the narrative, but for the most part he let Ketiya tell the story; he did not have much talent for storytelling himself. He was somewhat nervous, though, for wondering just how much she would tell.  Much to his relief, she omitted those details that he thought were best left untold.

The story was enough to occupy everyone's attention for a while, even through their stop for a midday meal in a glade by the path.  By the time she finished, it was late afternoon, with only an hour or two to sunset.

            Marle whistled appreciatively.  "That's one heck of a story!  Maybe you should write it down?  If you're both okay with it, I mean."  She grinned happily.

            Jack expected for Ketiya to smile, but she did not.  Instead she looked at the sky, her eyes distant.  "Maybe someday," she said softly.  Jack looked at her, wondering what it was that might be bothering her so, but he could not tell.

            After a sharp bend to the right they suddenly came upon a large, circular clearing.  On either side of the path there were small stones set upright in the ground, miniatures of the standing stone that had been at the beginning of the path into the forest.  Runes were carved on them as well, but only on the side that faced the trees.  There were many more of these stones set at regular intervals around the clearing.  Not far from them was a small fort – also circular - with a watchtower in the center.  He could also see guards posted along the high stone walls.  As they approached the gates, one of the guards looked down at them.

            "Password?" he asked in a soft but firm voice.

            Ketiya saluted him and spoke, "_Gentles, do not reprehend: If you pardon, we will mend._  Good evening to you too, Marcus.  These folks are with me."

            Marcus returned Ketiya's salute.  "Good evening, Sergeant."  Since this individual was friendly – although there was definitely something odd about him - Jack greeted him with a polite bow.  Marcus' eyes widened and he almost toppled over the wall.  "Is he…who I think he is?"  Ketiya nodded, and Marcus bowed politely from the top of the wall.  "It is an honor, sir.  Welcome to our land, and the blessings of the Lady be upon you."  He turned to shout down "Open the gates!" to someone inside the wall.

            "Thank you," Jack said to him as the gates opened.  The group entered, with Ketiya in the lead.  She turned around with a smile on her face and her arms spread wide.

"Welcome to Fort Aellewan.  I'll have someone see about getting you all sleeping pallets and dinner, not necessarily in that order."  There were many people in the outpost, male and female, most of them dressed and armed as Ketiya was.  They were going about various tasks, but some of the people turned their attention to the newcomers and started whispering excitedly among themselves.  At first, Jack took them for humans, but he was wrong – when one of them came near to speak with Ketiya, he noticed that the man had pointed ears.  He heard one of the girls – Lucca – utter a gasp of surprise.  But Jack had seen much stranger things than this in his travels.  It did not bother him at all.  Ketiya held a brief, whispered conversation with the soldier, who saluted her and jogged to one of the buildings along the walls, presumably to see to accommodations for them.

            "Are they elves?" Marle whispered when Ketiya rejoined them.  Jack had heard of elves, but the definition of "elf" varied from one culture to another, and in any case he had never seen one before.

            "They're called that, yes," Ketiya answered.  "But they call themselves the _aiewan_, and they think of the word "elf" as a sort of slur."

            "What are the stones outside for?" Crono asked, jerking a thumb in the direction of the closing gates.

            "Protective enchantment," Ketiya answered, "Like the path.  The fort is named after the person who carved and enchanted the stones."

            Lucca's brow furrowed.  "But you have walls – why do you need the stone circle too?"

            "There are things," Ketiya said in a low voice, "That can't be stopped by walls.  Only by magic.  Another stone was recently installed at the top of the watchtower to give us a protective dome of sorts."  She started walking toward one of the buildings on the other side of the central tower.  "Come on," she gestured for them to follow her, "It's not long before dinner now, and we should wash up first."

            Jack and the others followed her.  Everyone they passed saluted Ketiya respectfully, and most of them watched the newcomers curiously.  In truth, most of them were watching Jack.  Although he knew them to be friendly, it made him more than a little apprehensive.

            They passed the watchtower and the well that supplied the fort with water, then came to a small building that Ketiya identified as the bathhouse.  "I'm sorry to leave you, but I have to report to the Captain.  Just tell the attendants that I sent you and they'll take care of things.  I'll meet you back here later, all right?"

            Crono and his friends nodded and entered the bathhouse, but Jack stopped Ketiya before she left.  She looked at him expectantly, and only then did he realize that he had no idea how to phrase what he wanted to say.  "Ketiya…will we be able to speak later?  I have much to tell about the past year, and I know that you do as well."

At her resulting smile, he could not help but smile himself.  "Of course.  After dinner, we'll do some catching up."  She winked and continued on her way.

Jack would have a difficult time deciding which story to tell her first, but he did not mind the task at all.

~***~

Aku was _very_ frustrated.

During the last several hours, he had made a number of attempts to find the three juvenile time travelers.  He had sent some drones to take care of them, but had been occupied by other matters shortly after sending out the order and had been unable to observe the fight.  Later on, when he had been able to check on them again, he found that they had escaped his drones – and they had joined up with that thorn in his side, Samurai Jack.

By that time, they were too deep into the woods for him to send any of his forces that way.  And they were uncomfortably close to _her_ territory.  He had decided to wait – after all, the younger travelers required fuel for their ship, which meant going into a city, where Aku had firm control.  But they had surprised him by going into _her_ land.  Now he was unable to see them at all.

But that would not be a problem for long.  He was already preparing to send a substantial army to invade and destroy _her_ land.  He would take out all his enemies in one blow.

~***~

            Ketiya knocked politely on the door of her commanding officer's study.  A voice within replied by saying "Enter."  Ketiya opened the door and stepped into Captain Maelwar's office, making sure to close the door behind her.  She walked up to the desk, stood at attention and saluted.  "Ranger Sergeant Ketiya reporting as ordered, ma'am."  The flaxen-haired _aiewan_ sitting at the desk nodded, indicating that Ketiya should stand at ease.

            Maelwar's study was spare but elegant.  The walls, floor and ceiling were of pale wood.  Medals, awards and some painted scrolls were displayed around the room.  There was a large window to the left of the Captain's desk (at least, to the person seated at that desk; to Ketiya it was on the right), which looked out over the fort's courtyard.  The desk itself was always neat and organized, from the top down to the bottommost drawer.

            The owner of said desk, Captain Amys Maelwar, was a spare, blond-haired, brown-eyed woman of fifty years (just entering middle age and not yet showing gray hairs – the _aiewan_ were a long-lived people), very precise and meticulous but not overbearingly so.  Ketiya had been under her command since she'd joined the Rangers seven months ago, and though she was by nature averse to taking orders from most people, she had no problem with taking them from Captain Maelwar.

            "Good evening, Sergeant.  I have already heard the news."  The captain placed her elbows on the desk, interlaced her fingers and propped her chin on them thoughtfully.  "I still have trouble believing it.  The greatest warrior in the world, here in our land!  In my fort, no less!"  There was a smile in her eyes.  "What of these three young travelers you brought?  I know nothing of them."

            "They are warriors as well, ma'am," Ketiya answered.  "From a different time…excuse me, an alternate time, as I understand it.  They arrived here by accident, in a time machine, and Jack came across them last night.  They have said that they will help us as well."

            Maelwar sat up in her seat.  "Perhaps it was a lucky accident that brought them to us, then.  We will need all the allies we can get."  She lowered her eyes for a moment.  "We have heard no messages from Fort Kuelwan for some time.  We can only assume the worst."

            The two women were silent as they pondered the implications of this.  Little more than a week ago, scouts from Fort Kulewan in the north had discovered a large force of demons on the border.  After that news came to them, there had been nothing more from the fort, although many demons had been sighted in other parts of the land since then.

            The Captain looked up at Ketiya again.  "Tomorrow, you must take them to the valley.  I will have horses ready for you, so you should reach the Underpass in the next couple of days.  For tonight, though, I ask you to extend to them an invitation to dine at my table – you too, of course.  We must show proper respect for such guests."

            Ketiya nodded.  "Yes ma'am.  I will inform them as soon as they are ready."

            "Good.  That is all."  Maelwar gave a salute, which Ketiya returned before walking out the door.  She wondered what the Captain would think when she found out that Jack ate with chopsticks.  Maybe she should have…nah.  It would be a surprise.  She grinned to herself as she went to wash up for dinner.

~***~

            The meal had been simple but tasty.  Unfortunately, it had also been rather formal and unexciting.  Well, there had been a couple of interesting moments.  Captain Maelwar had obviously been surprised when Jack pulled his chopsticks out of his sleeve, which had been a source of some small amusement for Ketiya.  Once the Captain had gotten over the initial shock, she had raised an eyebrow at Ketiya, but not as if to say that her subordinate officer was in trouble – she had a sense of humor, after all.  Maelwar had also seemed a little intimidated by Jack, which was interesting, because as far as Ketiya knew she was never intimidated by anyone.  Jack, for his part, was quietly polite to his host.

            The Captain had asked some questions of the three younger guests, concerning the circumstances that had brought them to their present situation.  Crono and Lucca didn't seem to know how to talk to her, but Marle had handled the whole situation with surprising finesse.  It was she, not Lucca, who supplied the answers to Maelwar's questions.  Ketiya had hoped to hear more details about the three kids and what had brought them here, but Marle did not say anything more than Lucca had earlier that day, which was disappointing.

            But later on, when supper was over and Crono, Marle and Lucca were exploring the fort, Ketiya finally got to talk to Jack about his adventures over the last year and some-odd months.  They sat in the hayloft of the stables, where it was peaceful and warm (the night outside was chilly) and flipped a coin to see who would tell their story first.  Jack had many tales to tell – and though he was not very good at telling stories, they were all fascinating.  Some of them were sad, and some of them were more than a little silly, but they were each and every one worth hearing.

            "Now it is your turn," Jack said after he finished relating his last adventure.  Ketiya wondered what he would think of her story.  She took a deep breath and thought it out a bit before she began.

            "I spent about a month recovering from that wound after the battle.  I would have left earlier, but Nathan the physician wouldn't let me.  His daughter – remember her, the shy one? – she actually cried when I left.  She'd sort of gotten used to me, I guess.  I thought I should try and join up with you again, so I went west to try and find you.  In the next town – Garemont – I got myself in trouble.  I have a knack for it."  Ketiya smiled.

            Jack smiled too, and nodded for her to continue.  "Well, I came across a house raid – some of Aku's police had found a guy keeping banned books.  To make a long story short, I started my career as a rebel right then and there."  Ketiya's brow furrowed in thought.  "Well, no.  I started with you, but it was the first thing of that nature that I did on my own.  I helped the man get away with his books – and a few weeks and several other rebellious exploits later, I saw my face on a wanted poster."

            Ketiya proceeded to tell her friend about her adventures – most of them were a little flat in comparison to Jack's, but there were enough heroic rescues, narrow escapes and humorous moments to make it all interesting both to tell and, judging by the reactions of the audience, to hear.

            "Sometimes," she reflected, "When I'm in a really bad situation, I wonder if it's all worth it.  But in the end, when all is said and done and I've done something important for someone…the answer is always yes."  Ketiya clasped her hands and looked down at them.  "I have to remind myself sometimes," she admitted, "That it's always worth it."

            There were a few moments of silence.  "So do I," Jack said gently, "Every once in a while."  Ketiya looked up at him and smiled, feeling grateful that she was not alone in her doubts.


	7. Chapter 5: Horses and Hero Worship

Chapter 5: Horses and Hero Worship

            The three of them were gathered together in the room that Marle and Lucca would be sharing for the night.  They were having a discussion of sorts.

            "They like each other.  It's _so_ obvious," Marle declared.  She was lying on her stomach on the bed, her arms crossed on the headboard and her chin propped on them.  "Can't you tell?"

            Lucca, who was too logical-minded to understand romance (she basically thought of it as an aid to the continuation of the human species), shook her head.  "What makes you think so?"

            "Well, come _on_.  Didn't you see how they were looking at each other?"  Marle looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully.  "They'd make a good couple."

            Crono chuckled from where he was leaning, arms crossed, against the wall.  "To be honest, I can't see _either_ of them in a couple with_ anybody_.  Especially not Jack."

            "I second that," Lucca declared.

            "It's just that…" Marle's brow furrowed.  "_They_ don't know that they like each other."

            Crono was doubtful.  "How can they not know that?  Wouldn't it be kind of obvious?"

            "Some people," Marle said sagely, "Have trouble understanding and accepting their true feelings."  She grinned.  "It's sort of cute.  They're both too shy to admit it.  Maybe we could try to…"

            "_No!!!_" Crono and Lucca interrupted in unison.  Marle shrugged.

            "Fine.  I won't.  They'll probably work it out on their own anyway."

~***~

            The next morning started badly for Crono.  First, he got the usual rude wake-up call from Marle, who chose to bounce on him.  When he got his wits about him, he noticed that it was raining outside.  When they went to the mess hall to eat breakfast, he found out that it was a very _chilly_ rain.  They were supposed to be traveling today – he hoped that their departure would be delayed until the rain was over.  Marle had told him that they would be traveling on horseback.  The prospect of riding horses was bad enough, but doing it in the rain was infinitely worse.

            Ketiya stood up and waved to them when they entered the mess hall.  She and Jack were sitting across from each other at one of the long tables.  Crono, Marle and Lucca went to join them.

            "Good morning!" Marle said pleasantly.  "How are you today?"

            "Great, thanks."

            "Very well, thank you.  Did you sleep well?"

            Marle nodded.  She looked around and noticed the sideboard where the food was laid out.  "Oooh, breakfast!  I'm starved!" she giggled and trotted off to get something to eat.

            Crono loved Marle, but she was _way_ too much of a morning person.  He had to keep telling himself that he would get used to it eventually.

            Lucca went off to get breakfast too, but Crono didn't join them immediately.  "Are we still on for today?" he asked.

            "You mean traveling?  Yes," Ketiya answered.  Crono felt quite miserable.  "It's an awful day, I know, but we need to get there quick.  And it won't be so bad, you'll be riding this time."  Crono didn't think it would be nice to tell her that he'd rather walk, no matter how far or how rough the terrain.

            Breakfast that morning was milk, porridge and fruit.  Crono barely tasted it.  All he could think about was how wet and chilly he was going to get, and how sore he would be after hours on a horse.

            Fortunately, the rain had stopped by the time they were done with breakfast, so it was just chilly and overcast.  Crono, Marle, Lucca and Jack gathered by the gate while Ketiya went to get their horses.  The captain of the fort bid them farewell and gave them her good wishes.  Then it was time to be off.

            Marle and Ketiya sprang into their respective saddles with the skill of much practice.  Lucca didn't have too much trouble either.  Crono hadn't been able to imagine Jack riding a horse, but once the warrior was on horseback he seemed to fit there perfectly.  With a sigh, Crono put one foot in the horse's stirrup and his hands on the saddle, then hauled himself up and nearly fell over the opposite side of the horse.  He was now more or less folded over it, bent at the waist with his head near one stirrup and his feet near the other and no idea how to get himself sorted out.

            Jack rode up to him and gently but efficiently maneuvered Crono into the proper sitting position.  Crono, red-faced with embarrassment, thanked him, got his feet in the stirrups and took hold of the reins.  The gates opened and Ketiya led the way out on her gray mare.  The soldiers waved to them and called their goodbyes – Marle, Lucca and Ketiya waved back to them, and Jack saluted, but Crono was too worried about falling off the horse to make any unnecessary moves.

            Ketiya brought them around the outer wall of the fort to another path, somewhat wider than the one they had come in by.  Then they were back among the trees, and Crono felt the eyes on him again.  Between the horse and the watching woods, he was feeling more embarrassed than he had ever imagined possible.

            "Loosen up a little, Crono," Marle advised.  He looked to his left, where she was riding alongside him.  He'd been too preoccupied to notice.

            "Easy for you to say," he grumbled.  "It's not _your_ first time on a horse."

            Marle looked consternated.  "Oh…I'm sorry, Crono.  I didn't know.  Umm…I'd give you a lesson, but it's not really a good time…"  She looked at him sympathetically, then reached out and patted his shoulder comfortingly.  He felt a little better.

            Jack, who was riding just behind Crono, spoke up.  "She is right.  You will find it much easier if you relax."

            Crono would have turned to look at the samurai, but turning his head sideways a bit was all he dared to do.  "What?"

            "Close your eyes for a few moments."  Crono was a little doubtful about this bit of advice.  "Trust me.  This is how I first learned to ride."

            _All right, I'll give it a try,_ Crono thought, resigning himself.  It was better than nothing.  He closed his eyes.

            "Now," he heard Jack say, "Feel how the horse is moving.  If you move _with_ it, you will feel more comfortable."

            Crono didn't understand how that was supposed to work.  But he did it anyway, listening to his horse's hoofbeats, feeling how it swayed slightly with each step.  How it all _fit_ together.  He was surprised that he hadn't noticed it before.  Now he understood why he was having such difficulty – although it was not a revelation that he could describe with words.  The horse didn't feel so unbalanced anymore.  Crono opened his eyes and smiled at Marle, who grinned back at him.

            "All right!  Now you've got it!" she congratulated him.  Crono turned – carefully, because he still wasn't used to this whole riding business – and gave Jack the thumbs-up sign.  Jack nodded sagely, with a little smile of satisfaction.

            But Crono's elation was short-lived, because just then there was a rumble of thunder from the clouds above.  A few moments later, the drizzle of earlier that morning started coming down again.  Crono sighed and put up the hood of his cloak against the rain.

~***~

            Over the walled town called Exan's Creek, the clouds were clearing out of the sky, revealing a majestic red sunset on the horizon.  From the tops of the rune-carved stone walls, sentries watched the forest and the roads.  One of them noticed a group of five riders coming up the road from the south; the one at the head of the group was dressed in a Ranger uniform.  She had been here not long before, and the guards were expecting her, so the travelers did not have to wait long before the gates were opened to allow them in.

            As soon as they entered, they became the center of attention for just about everyone on the street.  Rangers were always objects of interest for imaginative children and ambitious youths, and the one leading this group was a human – the only human in history to serve among the Rangers.  Her companions were also human, which was very unusual, for most of the people of Exan's Creek had never seen more than one or two non-_aiewan_ at a time, if that.  And the most interesting thing of all was the rider at the end of the group, who was wearing a white robe and sandals and wore an odd-looking sword sheathed at his hip.  There were whisperings and mutterings in the crowd.

            A little girl was the first to make the announcement.  "It's Samurai Jack!  It really is!"  The mutterings and whisperings rose in volume.  People began to cluster in around the horses – more specifically, the horse that the Samurai was riding.  The Ranger and her companions were unable to make any progress through the crowd.  One of the riders, a slender blonde-haired girl, laughed and whispered something to the red-headed boy beside her.  He chuckled, grinned and nodded in response.

            The little girl who had heralded Jack's arrival squeezed through the crowd and tugged on the hem of the warrior's robe.  He was obviously quite uncomfortable already, and this had the effect of startling him.  He looked down at the girl, who gazed right back up at him with adoration in her eyes.  "You're my favoritest hero," she declared.  The two regarded each other awkwardly for a few moments; then Jack smiled and reached down to pat the girl on the head.  She grinned up at him.

            It was then that the town guards came through and started pushing the crowds away from the riders.  They arranged themselves around the column, so the whole affair took on the feel of a parade or military procession.  The group was able to make its way down the street, until they reached the inn where the travelers were to spend the night.

            Most of the townspeople went back to their tasks after a quarter of an hour (although gossip, speculation and rumor were rife now), except for the little girl, who stood at the opposite side of the street from the inn, peering at the second-story windows, hoping for a last glimpse of her favoritest hero.  But even she departed not long after, when her mother found her just after sundown and took her back home, scolding all the way.

~***~

            The inn was the best one in Exan's Creek.  Ketiya, Jack and the three youngsters were the only guests tonight – Ketiya and the captain of the town's garrison, who had anticipated that Jack would attract a lot of attention, had arranged it beforehand.  The travelers rode into the inn's courtyard, after which the great wooden doors were shut behind them, blocking out the crowd on the street.

Ketiya got off her horse and gave the reins to a stableboy to lead the animal away.  She heard the _clok _of Jack's wooden sandals on the flagstones as he dismounted, then the sounds of Marle and Lucca jumping to the ground.  Shortly thereafter she heard the unmistakable sound of someone falling to the ground in a heap – Crono.  She rolled her eyes and shook her head, then turned around to see Marle and Lucca helping their friend to his feet.

            "You should have waited for us to help you," Lucca admonished him.  "I told you something like this would happen."  Crono responded with a wince.

Some more stableboys rushed up to take the horses away.  Ketiya turned to address the group.  "All right, everyone.  There's food and hot baths waiting for you inside.  I have to report at the garrison.  Try to stay out of trouble," she concluded with a grin.  Jack nodded at her and Marle waved.  Ketiya found the innkeeper as he was entering the courtyard and, with his help, found a side door leading onto an alley and exited that way, to avoid the crowd out front.

After what had happened on the way into the town, she was a little worried about how they were going to get out tomorrow morning.  They would probably have to have an escort again.  Getting out of enemy territory, she reflected, was always a problem, but she had never realized how difficult it could be to get out of _friendly_ territory!

~***~

            Although the sky was dark, the inn courtyard was well-lit by mirror-backed lanterns hung on the pillars.  Most of the inn's staff were peeking out of the second-floor windows or watching from the courtyard's edges.  Lucca was one of the former group, so she had a good view of what was going on.

            Crono and Jack, each armed with a practice sword made from a bundle of wooden lathes, were dueling on the flagstones below.  When the mock fight had begun five minutes ago, everyone had been certain that Jack would trounce his opponent in under a minute.  But Crono was holding out surprisingly well, and now people were starting to lay bets on one or the other of the two combatants.

            Lucca wasn't sure who would win this fight.  Crono had started training with a sword at age six, and had won the National Junior Kendo Championship for two years running back home.  And, as Lucca well knew, he was excellent at using a sword in combat as well.  But Jack was by and large the more experienced of the two, and this wasn't a fencing match – they were fighting it out like a genuine life-or-death duel.

Most of the spectators were comparing the fighting styles of the respective duelists.  The two young maids watching from the window adjacent to Lucca's were also making comparisons, but of a different sort.

"He doesn't look much like how I imagined," the shorter of the two said.

"What do you mean?" her companion asked.

"I mean he's a lot handsomer than I expected.  I didn't think it was possible for a human man to be that attractive."

"Neither did I.  But he's cuter than most of _our_ men!"  The two of them broke into a fit of giggles.

"The other one – Crono, right?"  Her friend nodded.  "He's pretty cute himself."  If anyone had been looking at Lucca, they would have seen her eyes bug out at this.  She hoped that Marle wasn't anywhere nearby, or there would be Trouble.

"You think so?"  There was a pause.  "Hmm.  You're right."  The two of them started giggling again.

"Think I could convince him to…"

"_Don't even _think_ about it._" Lucca turned away from the window to look at the top of the stairs, where Marle was standing, glaring at the two maids.  Lucca couldn't decide whether her tone of voice had been cold enough to freeze a steak or hot enough to cook it.  Either way, it scared the color out of the maids' faces.  They mumbled about having chores to do and made a hasty exit down the stairs, with Marle glaring scathingly after them.

            "Who's winning?" Lucca was startled by Ketiya's voice – the Ranger had appeared, as if out of nowhere, at her left elbow.

            "Hard to tell," Lucca answered, turning her attention to the fight again.  Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Marle walk over and take up a position on her other side.

            "He looks like he's having a tough time," Marle remarked sympathetically as Crono barely dodged a downwards swipe.

            "Hah!" Lucca exclaimed.  "Are you kidding?  He's as happy as a little kid in a candy store!"  She perceived that Marle was looking at her oddly, so she turned towards her to explain.  "Some kids play baseball or soccer for fun.  Crono," she gestured in his direction, "Does this."

            Marle looked out the window again with a thoughtful expression.  In the courtyard below, things were starting to get very interesting indeed.

            Jack and Crono spun away from each other and ended up on opposite sides of the courtyard.  They stopped suddenly and faced one another, both in a crouch, each with his weapon at the ready.  Lucca could see every detail – the way their shoulders heaved with exertion, the way the lamplight glistened on the trickles of sweat running down their faces, the same steely glint in Crono's green eyes and Jack's brown ones.  The only sounds to be heard were the wind and her own blood pounding in her ears.

            A short eternity passed; then the two duelists rushed at each other with loud battle cries that made Lucca jump in her skin.  They met at the center of the courtyard and fought with renewed intensity, their practice swords moving too fast to follow.  Crono seemed to gain the upper hand for a few moments, forcing Jack to retreat across the courtyard, but then the two of them ground to a halt and, slowly but inevitably, Jack began driving Crono backward.

            "I think Jack's holding back on him," Ketiya commented.  This got her a nasty glare from Marle, but as it turned out, she was right.

            Crono tried to slash at Jack's legs, but he missed – without even jumping, it seemed, Jack had ended up in midair above Crono's head, his sword raised to strike when he came down.  But Crono was not surprised.  He brought his weapon up over his head just in time to block Jack's sword in mid-hack, then darted backward before his opponent could land.  Marle crossed her arms and made a curt, satisfied nod.  Ketiya whistled appreciatively.

            As soon as Jack hit the ground, Crono brought his sword around in a slash, which Jack deflected.  The samurai tried to stab at Crono, but his opponent dodged and he missed.  Crono responded with a stab of his own, which turned out to be a mistake.

            With a flick of his sword, Jack disarmed his opponent.  Crono's weapon hit the ground and spun away.  The tip of Jack's own practice sword was but an inch from his throat.

            Then Jack withdrew his weapon and bowed, to the enthusiastic cheers of the audience.  Crono returned his bow respectfully.  Marle was already rushing down the stairs, so Lucca went to follow her.  Down the stairs they went, past the tables in the common room, and right to the door, through which Marle bolted at a dangerous velocity.  Lucca almost got hit by the door when it rebounded, and she went out more cautiously.

            Marle pounced on Crono with affectionate enthusiasm and planted a kiss on his cheek.  It didn't matter that he'd lost the duel – he'd put up one heck of a good fight, which was enough.  He returned her embrace with a big smile, then saw Lucca and beckoned for her to come over, which she did.  They shared a group hug together, lost their balance and ended up staggering around and giggling.

            Lucca looked over her shoulder and saw Ketiya approach Jack.  She smiled kindly and said something to him, but Lucca couldn't hear what it was.  Jack nodded to his friend and they strolled to the door of the common room.

            The three friends stepped back from each other.  "That was great!" Marle exclaimed with a radiant smile.  "I thought fights that good only happened in stories and stuff."


	8. Chapter 6: Things of Beauty

Chapter 6: Things of Beauty

            The maid woke Ketiya an hour before dawn, startling her out of a dreamless sleep by knocking on the door to her room.  "Thank you.  I'm up," Ketiya called, throwing back the covers and getting out of bed.  The air was chilly, and the water in the washbasin was even more so, but it helped Ketiya to wake up.  She opened her door and picked up her uniform, freshly laundered and neatly folded, from the hall outside.  She removed her nightshirt and put on her clothes, then combed and braided her hair.

            She had it all planned out – she would go to the garrison and arrange for an escort out of the town, then return here and wake the others so that they could prepare to leave.  If there were no unforeseen delays, they should reach the Underpass by late afternoon and the Eternal Valley by sunset.  Then they would meet with the Lady.

            Ketiya went down to the common room, empty but for a servant cleaning the great hearth, and opened the door onto the courtyard.  As soon as she stepped outside, she paused, smiled, and closed the door behind her slowly so it would not make any noise.

            In the courtyard, lit by the gray predawn light, Jack was practicing sword forms.  Ketiya was reminded of the first (and, up to now, the only) time she had seen him do this; in a little clearing in a forest some time ago and many miles from here.  For some reason the whole thing had stuck in her mind, like a beautiful picture or a melody.  It had happened in almost the same way – she had seen him, and decided to watch instead of letting him know she was there…

~***~

The blade of his sword is an impossibly thin ribbon of what looks like high-quality steel.  From its shape – and the kind of moves Jack is practicing – she can tell that it is designed for slashing.  The metal flashes and winks in the sun as Jack raises the sword over his head, then snaps it down as if he is slicing an invisible foe.  It is such an elegant thing that she can hardly believe it is a weapon.

_            The sword's owner moves back and forth across the field with fluid grace; it doesn't look like combat practice at all, really, but more like a dance._

~***~

            But then he noticed Ketiya out of the corner of his eye and stopped.  He turned to face her, looking a little startled; then he smiled, sheathed his sword and bowed to her.  She returned his bow and went to speak with him.  "Good morning.  How long have you been up?" she asked.

            "Not very long.  Half an hour, perhaps.  Please excuse me if I seem impatient, but when will we depart?"  He was probably concerned about the possibility of a repeat of yesterday's difficulties.

            "Oh, a couple of hours from now.  I've told the staff to wake the kids just after dawn.  I'm going to the garrison to bring us an escort so we won't have another traffic problem."  She grinned.

            Jack looked at the ground.  "I am sorry about that," he said.  Ketiya tried to stop herself from laughing, but the effort was in vain – she barely kept it down to a chuckle.  He looked up at her, the confusion obvious on his face.

            "That wasn't your fault.  No reason to apologize."  She shook her head.  "I should have realized that something like that would happen.  I know, it's probably very embarrassing, but look on the bright side; all those people want to see you win.  That's kind of a change from the usual, huh?"  'The usual,' as Ketiya knew from firsthand experience, was being on the wrong end of an uncomfortable number of weapons being wielded by _very_ unfriendly people.

            His smile warmed her heart.  "Yes, it is.  Thank you."  Ketiya could not figure out exactly what he was thanking her for.

~***~

            The sun had almost cleared the horizon when they were ready to depart.  Jack did not mount his horse immediately – Crono might need his help, after all.  He tried to watch the boy without seeming to watch, so as not to cause him any embarrassment.  Crono watched carefully as his friend Marle swung herself up into the saddle.  Then he placed his right hand on the saddle-horn of his own mount, his left hand on the rear of the saddle, and his right foot in the stirrup.  He paused for a moment, eyes closed, as if thinking or praying, then heaved himself up and swung his left leg over the back of the horse without incident.  He placed his left foot in the stirrup and took the reins in his hands before flashing a triumphant smile at Marle.

            Satisfied that Crono was all right on his own, Jack vaulted into the saddle of his own mount.  Ketiya nodded to the town guards near the inn doors.  They opened the gates and the riders went out through them, with the group of guards forming up around them as an escort.  Jack felt very uncomfortable about this whole situation, but he was not going to show it.

            Fortunately there were few people in the streets at this early hour.  The guards seemed to be enough of a deterrent to keep most people from approaching the horses.  Even so, Jack was very apprehensive, for he felt many curious eyes upon him.  At the head of the column, a young woman approached one of the guards with a bundle in her arms.  Ketiya waved her over and held a brief conversation with the woman, who walked alongside her horse.  Then the woman smiled and handed her bundle up to the Ranger before going back to the side of the street.  She blew a kiss to Jack as he passed by.  He smiled and waved at her, feeling acutely embarrassed.

            It was a great relief when they reached the gates of the town.  As they rode through onto the tree-lined road, their escort peeled away, leaving the five riders to continue on their own.  Lucca, who was riding behind Jack, turned and waved to them.  They waved in return and continued to do so until a bend in the road put them out of sight.  Jack could feel eyes on him again, as in the city, but this time the feeling had a distinctly arboreal flavor to it.

            "What was that package, Ketiya?" Marle asked.  Jack had forgotten about the bundle.  He turned his attention to Ketiya.

            The Ranger twisted around in her saddle and held up the bundle with a glittering smile.  "That young lady is the baker's daughter.  She made us some pastries to take on our way.  And she wished us all good fortune.  A good way to start the day, huh?"  Ketiya opened the bundle and took out a pastry, then closed it again and tossed it to Marle, who was riding close behind her.  Marle took a pastry from the bundle and gave another one to Crono, who was riding beside her, then tossed the bundle to Jack.  He thanked her, took a pastry for himself – they were still warm from the oven, and a bit sticky – then dropped back beside Lucca to pass her the bundle.  After she took her own share, Jack rode toward the head of the group, excusing himself as he passed Crono and Marle, then returned the bag to Ketiya, who hung it on her saddle-horn.

            "You could have just tossed it back over," she said jokingly, obviously knowing that returning the bundle was only an excuse.  Jack raised an eyebrow at her and she threw back her head and laughed mirthfully, her hair seeming to throw off little rays of light where the sunlight hit it.  Although Jack had spent only a little more than a week's time in her company – and not consecutively, at that – he knew that she was one of those rare people who wore a sense of humor the way some people wore spectacles.  Jack, who had been accused more than once of having an underdeveloped sense of humor, both liked and envied her for it.

            "Let's see how these things taste," she said, lifting her pastry to her mouth and taking a small bite.  After chewing it a bit, she smiled and nodded approvingly.

            He took a bite out of his own pastry, which was filled with something sweet but tangy – it tasted sort of like lemon.  He tried to chew it slowly, since it was not often that he had the opportunity to enjoy a luxury like this.  Or a day like this – the air was comfortably cool and clean, smelling of fallen leaves, and there were only a few puffy clouds to be seen in the blue of the sky.  He closed his eyes for a few moments, reveling in the rare sensation of contentment.

            "It's beautiful, isn't it?" Ketiya said, echoing his own thoughts.  He looked at her and saw that she was looking up at the tree branches above their heads.  "You know, aren't any electrical machines or anything like that in the Lady's realm."  She took another bite from her pastry and looked back at him, her eyes saying that she expected a response.

              He liked the idea of being far from such technology and all its unpleasantness.  "Why not?" he asked her.

            She shrugged.  "Something about the magic here.  They just don't work.  Not even matches will work.  If a tool or machine is too complicated – although the limits seem kind of arbitrary, as far as I can tell – it just won't function.  Out here, you can almost forget that those kinds of things exist."  She looked down at her saddle, the unspoken words hanging in the air: _You can almost forget that Aku exists_.

            Jack had no idea how to respond.  He looked at the road ahead of them and absentmindedly finished eating his pastry.  That unsaid statement was true enough – this forest may have been on Earth, but it was not the same world as the one that contained the Central Hub, or robots, or rocket ships.  It was as if it were stuck in a different…

            Jack forced himself from that path of thought.  This was, for some reason, the wrong sort of place to have something so uncomfortable on his mind.

            "Are you okay, Jack?" Marle's voice startled him.  He turned around and saw her looking at him worriedly.  Crono and Lucca – her friends were riding next to her, since the road was wide enough to permit it – were also looking concerned.  Well, he assumed that Lucca was looking concerned.  With her glasses, it was not very easy to tell.

            "I am all right, thank you.  Just thinking."  He turned back to look at Ketiya, who was looking at him apologetically.  She was a good person, but she had a tendency to bring up uncomfortable topics or feelings – always by accident – and she knew it.  He shook his head slightly to indicate that it was all right.  She looked away from him, biting her lower lip.

            "I always seem to do that, don't I?" she said softly.  She turned her gaze on him again.  "There was something I didn't tell you, but I think I ought to now.  It was about something that happened last year, and you sort of reminded me of it earlier this morning."  She looked down at her hands on the reins.

Jack's brow furrowed in puzzlement.  What was she talking about?  "Please, tell me," he said.

"It was the morning after I drew that map, remember?  To get you to show me where you came from."  Jack nodded.  He remembered that – she had used a blackened stick from their campfire to draw a map of the world, because she had wanted very much to know where he came from.  She had quite obviously regretted asking the question afterwards, and they had not spoken of the incident since then.  Ketiya sighed.  "The next morning, when I woke up and didn't see you, I thought you'd gotten mad at me about it and left.  But you were just nearby practicing with your sword, like you were this morning."  He was shocked, to say the least, when she made this admission.

"I never even considered doing so," he answered.  Her eyes widened in surprise.  "That would have been shameful."  He said it a little louder than he intended to, and as Ketiya smiled at him he heard Marle giggle.  He found himself wondering, with no small amount of alarm, what the girl might think that he and Ketiya had been talking about.

If he had had less self-control, he would have blushed.  As it was, he turned to shoot a quick warning glance at Marle, but Ketiya was ahead of him on that score, and Marle squirmed a little under her glare.  Crono, however, glared right back at Ketiya as if to say that she had no right to treat his friend that way.  Lucca suddenly became very interested in the trees along the side of the road.  Marle prudently pulled on the reins of her horse so that she would follow Jack and Ketiya at a greater distance – Crono followed suit, and Lucca a little afterward.  This seemed to satisfy Ketiya, who turned away from the young travelers and back to him with an annoyed look.  Although she did not seem to be annoyed with him personally so much as with Marle.

For some reason he could not explain, Jack found the whole incident somewhat amusing, and he smiled.  Ketiya looked perplexed for a moment, then began to smile.  Then she closed her eyes and began to chuckle.  She twisted around in the saddle again.  "I'm sorry about that.  I didn't mean to be…"

Suddenly there was a loud, grating screech off to Ketiya's right, which caused her horse to whinny and rear with terror so that she barely managed to stay in the saddle.  Jack had his sword in hand almost instantly and he heard Crono draw his sword as well, although the boy would probably be unable to fight on horseback.  Ketiya's horse settled down somewhat and she had gotten her bow and arrow from the quiver hanging on the saddle – in fact, she was already in the process of firing an arrow at the source of the screech.  Jack saw her arrow hit something small, shadowy and unpleasant-looking; then the thing vanished in a puff of smoke, and the arrow fell to the ground.

"Another demon," she grumbled.  "It tried to get onto the path.  But the enchantment was strong enough to keep it away."  She turned around to address the others as Jack sheathed his katana.  "Everyone all right back there?"

Marle was lowering her crossbow and Crono was sheathing his sword, but Lucca still had her gun in her hand and was looking around frantically, like a frightened rabbit.  Even from this far away Jack could see that she was shaking.  "It's all right, Lucca," Marle said soothingly.  "Here, come and ride between me and Crono, if that'll make you feel better.  Okay?"  Lucca nodded and took her friend's suggestion.  She calmed down a bit and lowered her gun, but did not hang it on her belt again.

He heard Ketiya jump down from her horse and turned to see her retrieving her arrow from beside the path.  She remounted and took the reins again.  "I know it might be useless for me to say it, but don't worry.  They can't hurt us as long as we stay on the path.  The Lady's magic is strong here."  She slipped the bow and arrow back into the quiver, then kicked her horse into a walk.  The others followed her.

The day was no less beautiful than it had been before, but the peaceful mood of it had been shattered beyond repair.  In Jack's experience, such things happened fairly often, but that did not make it any easier for him.

~***~

            They came across another small demon shortly after midday, and a spider-like creature a few hours after that.  Marle accounted for the former and Ketiya for the latter.  Ketiya and Marle made some heroic attempts to lighten the mood, but mostly in vain.

            But when the sun was a little more than halfway along the journey from noon to night, they had reason to cheer up.  The road came to a rocky cliff about twenty feet high.  It led into a cave opening – perhaps natural, but obviously enlarged by artificial means - at the base of the cliff.  A large stone slab, set into the cliff face by the opening, was carved with more runes.  There were a few small buildings nearby – it was an outpost. 

            "The Underpass," Ketiya said, her voice satisfied.  "This will take us to the Eternal Valley.  We'll leave the horses at the stable here."  She leaped down from her saddle and Jack did the same.  He looked back at the three other travelers.  Marle had already gotten off her horse and Lucca was getting off hers.  Crono had not gotten down yet.

            Marle looked up at him, but he shook his head.  "I think I can do it myself," he insisted.  Jack held his breath as Crono got his left foot out of the stirrup and swung it over the saddle.  He managed to get his left foot on the ground, but still had his right foot caught in the stirrup.  He barley managed to keep his balance, but in the end he managed to disentangle himself without falling over.

            A group of Rangers came up to them.  They were refreshingly polite and efficient – after greeting then travelers and exchanging salutes and a few words with Ketiya, three of them took the horses to be stabled while another two fetched some refreshments.  Ketiya got something else as well – a coil of slim gray cord, some kind of rope, which she hung on her belt.  The group rested for a while, but they stayed at the outpost for less than half an hour before continuing on their journey.  

            They entered the mouth of the cave, leaving the forest and the road behind them.  It was about as wide as the road had been although, as Ketiya had told them, it was not very tall.  The floor had a slight downward slope, and the passage curved gently to the right.  Soon the light from the cave opening could no longer be seen, but there was some other source of light – Jack could not tell where it was coming from, as there were no torches or lanterns about.  But then he saw that there were patches of glowing fungus on the walls.

            "I wonder what makes this stuff…darn it.  The scanner's not working," he heard Lucca say.  He turned around to see her standing in front of one of the patches of glowing moss, holding a complicated-looking object in her left hand.  She was frowning at it.

            "Those sorts of things don't work here.  Didn't I tell you that already?" Ketiya remarked.  She looked at Jack.  "No, I told you, but not them."  She looked back at Lucca apologetically.

            With a sigh, Lucca hung the scanner on her belt again. Then she jerked as if someone had slapped her.  "That means my gun won't work either.  And I don't know how to _use_ anything else."  Her shoulders slumped.  She looked, for a moment, as if she were about to break into tears; Marle rushed to comfort her, but then Lucca took a deep breath and steadied herself.  "I guess that means I'll just have to figure out something else," she decided.  Jack was surprised – and impressed – by her resolve.

            Ketiya smiled at her.  "And I'm sure we will.  Maybe the mages can do something to help you.  But we have to get there first."  Lucca nodded in agreement.  They started walking again, descending further into the earth.

            Jack was rethinking his opinion of Lucca.  He did not relate well to scientists – not because they were bad people, but because for all their knowledge of the workings of things, they overlooked _how things worked_.  They thought that technology was the only way to solve problems.  Jack knew that, after a certain point, technology tended to _cause_ a lot of problems.  Lucca's apparent dependence upon it was a problem in itself.  But, he saw now, she did not depend solely on technology after all.  He had a lot more respect for her now that he understood that.

            It was then that he noticed the mist.  It was a thin, gray mist of the sort that rose off dewy fields in the morning.  It was getting steadily thicker as they progressed – in fact, he was having trouble making out objects that were more than an arm's length away.  He was intending Ketiya about the mist when she stopped in her tracks.

            "Okay.  After we pass through the mists, we will be halfway along the Underpass.  But it's going to take us a couple of minutes to pass through it, and we won't be able to see each other.  Also, there are some branching passages and dead ends.  I know my way through, but you don't.  We need to stay together, so…"  Ketiya took from her belt the coil of rope that the Rangers at the outpost had given her before.  When she unrolled it, he saw that it had a series of loops along it spaced at regular intervals – loops just big enough to put a hand through.  So that was how they were going to keep together.

            Each of them put their left hand through a loop.  The loops were tied in such a way that they could be tightened or loosened.  Ketiya advised them to tighten the loops so that they would not slip off.  "Just walk slowly in here.  And don't worry – there's nothing dangerous about the mist."  Even with her reassurances, Jack felt somewhat apprehensive about the mist, but if Ketiya said that there was no danger…

            They started walking forward again, and the mist swallowed them up.  Jack could see nothing but gray all around him.  The mist seemed to swallow all sound, too, for though the floor was of hard stone, his wooden _geta_ made no noise when he walked.  He could deal with being unable to see, but the lack of sound put him on edge.  The _nothingness_ was maddening.  He put his hand on the hilt of his sword, although he knew that it would do him no good.

            Ketiya stopped in front of him, perhaps to check that she was going in the right direction, but Jack did not notice that until he collided with her.  He tried to apologize, but his words seemed to be swallowed up by the oppressive silence.  When he backed away from her his left shoulder bumped the rock wall of the tunnel and he almost tripped over, putting Ketiya off-balance as well, and probably Crono right behind him, although he was not really sure.  He put his hand to the wall to steady himself – and so did Ketiya.  Her hand ended up right on top of his.

            To his surprise, she did not pull her hand away.  And somehow, he could not bring himself to break the contact either – in the cold, silent mist, this little bit of reality was a comfort to him.  He tensed a little when he felt her hand squeeze his, and even as he was debating with himself whether or not it would be appropriate, or right, to reciprocate, he was taking her hand in his own.  Ketiya slowly moved their linked hands away from the wall, and began to lead the way again.

            Feeling an intense mixture of apprehension, elation and general bewilderment, he held tightly to her hand, glad for the reminder that he was not alone.

~***~

            Marle was holding his hand so hard that it hurt, but the sensation reassured Crono that he was not all alone, or in some nightmare he could never wake up from.  All he could see was gray blankness, even when he held his hand right in front of his face, and the silence was absolute.  No, not silence, because it was more than just the mere absence of sound.  It like a deafening rumble or an ear-piercing shriek, except…in the other direction, or something.  There just weren't any words for it.

            The around his left hand jerked suddenly, and he staggered a little but managed to keep his feet.  Marle's grip got tighter for a moment.  There were a few terrible seconds during which Crono wondered what had happened to Jack and Ketiya ahead of him – then the slack in the rope was taken up, slowly, and he breathed a sigh of relief.  He started walking again.

            About a minute after that, he heard a sound.  It was very faint, but it got louder and louder with each step he took.  Then he recognized it, the sound of wood on stone, which meant he was hearing Jack's footsteps.  And, he realized, he could also hear the soft scrape of his own shoes on the floor.  The mist began to thin – he could see his own feet, although only faintly.

            It was not long before he could make out Jack ahead of him, and then Ketiya.  The walls of the tunnel were visible, too.  They were back in the world of the living.

            Ketiya stopped and called out, "Well, that wasn't so bad, was it?"  Crono heard Marle groan behind him.  Ketiya turned around and favored them with a big smile.  "Okay.  Let's get the rope off, now.  It's clear sailing from here."  She removed the loop of rope from her wrist.

            "Sailing?" Jack queried, removing the rope from his own wrist.

            Ketiya gave him what Crono liked to think of as a Look.  "You know.  Clear sailing.  Things are going to go smoothly."

            Jack appeared to ponder this for a few seconds.  Then he nodded.  Ketiya shook her head in an amused fashion as she collected the rope and coiled it up again.  Crono looked around the tunnel and noticed that it now sloped upwards ahead of them.  He looked over his shoulder.  Behind him, the tunnel faded out into gray.

            After a few minutes of walking, Crono could see bright light ahead – sunlight!  He wanted to run toward it, but he knew that wouldn't be a good idea, so he didn't.  The distance to the tunnel mouth and the outside world seemed to take forever to cross.

            Since the bright light was hurting his eyes, he looked down at the ground, to give himself time to get used to it.  After he stepped through the archway of the tunnel, and onto a road of white hexagonal tiles, he finally looked up.  And froze.

            Behind and to the side of him, he heard Marle gasp, and Lucca murmur "Oh my…"  Out of the corner of his eye, Crono noticed that Jack's eyes were wide with awe.  Crono rubbed his own eyes, because he couldn't believe what he was seeing, but when he looked again it had not changed.

            "Welcome," he heard Ketiya say, "To the Eternal Valley."


	9. Chapter 7: The Faerie World

Chapter 7: The Faerie World

            They were standing on the lower part of a mountain slope, so they had a good view.  The valley was a great bowl, surrounded by high blue-gray mountains.  The trees, of which there were many, were decked in the bright colors of autumn.  A wide river, a ribbon of pale blue, wended its way across the bowl from north to south.  A collection of domes and towers, shining in rainbow colors where they were hit by the light of the setting sun, grew out of the far mountain slope as naturally as the trees in the forest, impossibly delicate constructions of spun-sugar stone.  A gentle breeze picked up and a swirl of bright leaves danced past.

              Crono looked down at the road they were standing on.  He followed it with his eyes, down into the valley, across an arched bridge over the river, and to the gleaming city backlit by the sinking sun.  He remembered the first time he'd seen the Kingdom of Zeal – but what he was seeing now surpassed even that.

            "What's that city called?" Lucca asked.  Her voice was hushed, but it was enough to bring everyone back to the here and now.

            "Kalvalen," Ketiya replied, in a similar tone.  "And it still hits me right here every time I see it."  She sighed.  "It looks even more spectacular by moonlight.  But we can't stay here and marvel, I'm afraid.  We're expected.  C'mon."  She started walking down the slope, expecting the others to follow.  They did, although a little reluctantly.

            Well, three of them did.  Jack was looking around carefully, as if he were expecting something bad to happen.  "There are no guards here," he observed.  Crono, Marle and Lucca stopped and looked around as well.  He was right – they should have noticed before.

            Ketiya stopped a little farther down the hill and turned around.  Jack looked at her questioningly.  She smiled in an irritatingly enigmatic way.  "There are indeed guards.  Just not of the species that you're expecting."  Crono heard a rustling of leaves that sounded very much like a suppressed chuckle.

            Lucca was the first to get it.  "You mean the trees are…"  The rustling of leaves grew louder, although the strength of the wind had not changed.

            "They're not _exactly _trees," Ketiya explained.  "They're sort of like trees.  But they're a lot more mobile."  She looked around thoughtfully.  "When they want to be, I mean.  Usually they just act like your average tree."  A maple beside her rustled agitatedly.  "Okay.  Not _average_ trees, then.  You know what I mean."  She shrugged her shoulders and turned back toward the city again.  Crono exchanged glances with Jack, Lucca and Marle, in that order, shrugged his own shoulders, and jogged to catch up with Ketiya.

~***~

            Even as the sky darkened, they still had light to see by.  Slim white pillars topped with glowing spheres, each about seven feet high, flanked the road at regular intervals.  Lucca looked carefully at them – no evidence of a wire element inside, so they certainly didn't run on electricity.  She thought of asking Ketiya how they worked, but figured that she probably wouldn't know either.  After all, such things were not in her area of expertise.

            "It's kind like going Trick-or-Treating," Marle remarked, looking up at the branches that reached out over the road.

            "Trick or _what_?" Ketiya and Jack said simultaneously.  They looked at each other, then at Marle.  She had to explain the whole concept to them.

            "That bears little resemblance to Halloween as I remember it," Jack remarked afterwards.  "Except that it is just as bizarre."  That got a laugh out of the others, which Jack seemed to find rather puzzling.

            "It used to be a lot different," Marle admitted.  "I don't know how the whole costumes-and-candy thing got started.  I only got to do it once, anyway.  I had to sneak out because my Dad wouldn't let me go."  She grinned.  "I got in a lot of trouble, but it was worth it."

            Ketiya peered at her.  "Why weren't you allowed to go out?" she asked.

            Marle sighed and rolled her eyes.  "Because my Dad is the King of Guardia and he wanted me to go with an escort of guards."  Ketiya was obviously very surprised by this (and, Lucca thought, she deserved a bit of a shock, after all that business with the trees), but Marle didn't pause to let her recover.  "I said no.  How can you Trick-or-Treat with a bunch of soldiers hanging around?  So he wouldn't let me and I had to sneak out."  She shrugged and looked down at the road in front of her.

            Ketiya was looking at her carefully.  "You're a princess?  You never said."  They had not explained their whole story to her.

            "Sorry.  It's just…not really something I like to talk about."  Pause.  "Just forget I mentioned it, okay?"

            Fortunately, they reached Kalvalen at that moment, stepping out of the trees and up to a tall gate that looked sort of like wrought iron – except that it was gleaming white, just like the rest of the city.  It was also invitingly open, though there were guards flanking it.  Ketiya exchanged salutes with them as they passed through.  As in the places they had been before, the people here watched them curiously, although they did not approach them.

            But they were all – with the exception of Ketiya – looking around the city just as curiously.  The buildings were like nothing Lucca had ever seen before.  They looked delicate, like lace, but they were made of stone or something very much like it, as Lucca confirmed for herself by tapping on a braided pillar.  There was writing carved on some of the walls, but Lucca couldn't read it.

            They came to another, smaller set of gates; these were closed, at least until they approached.  When Ketiya led them through and into a paved courtyard, there were some people waiting for them, all dressed in flowing white garments that shone like rainbows under the light of the moon and more of those glowing spheres on poles.

            The tallest of them, a gaunt _aiewan_ with long obsidian hair and an intricate golden torc about his neck, stepped forward to greet them.  He placed the palms of his hands together and bowed.  "_Maigan dal Ellewyn_," he said in a cool, placid voice.  The attendants behind him bowed as well.

            Ketiya returned the bow and the greeting – although, Lucca noticed, she bowed lower than the man had.  Lucca and the others followed the obvious protocol and bowed as well.  Their host stood up again, and they did the same.

            "I am Lord Illyn, Governor of Kalvalen."  He looked them over with shining amber eyes.  "I am honored to meet you."  Ketiya introduced them, which was a good thing because Lucca had no idea how she ought to behave.

            "I know you are tired from your journey, but the Lady wishes to meet with you as soon as possible," the Governor said.  "Please follow me."  He turned smoothly and walked – glided, really – toward a vine-covered arched doorway.  The travelers followed him, with the servants forming an escort around them.

            Lucca would have loved to examine the carvings in the halls they passed through, or to have explored one of the many gardens, but that would have to wait.  She tried to imagine what the Lady might look like, or what her throne room might look like, but both of these defied her expectations.

            Lord Illyn led them to a set of double doors carved with runes and geometric designs – rather unusual, since most of the carvings here were of plants, animals or people.  He stood aside as two of his servants opened it.  He bowed and gestured for them to go through.  "The Lady awaits."

            They stepped out onto a cloistered walkway surrounding a circular courtyard, after which the doors were shut behind them.  There were no glowing spheres here, but the full moon provided more than enough light to see by. While most of the other open spaces in the palace contained elegant gardens, there was not much in this one.  Only a grassy knoll, with a very large, old-looking oak tree in the center.

            Lucca was confused for a moment.  Then she looked at the tree and smiled to herself.  _Of course._

            She was right behind Ketiya when the Ranger walked up to the tree in slow, reverent steps instead of her usual stride.  When they were right under the tree, she looked up into its branches.  She could feel it – or _her_, rather – looking right back.

            "Touch her trunk, so she can speak to you," Ketiya said.  They moved to form a ring around the trunk.  Ketiya was the first to put her hand on the bark of the tree.  The others seemed a little hesitant.  Lucca decided to be the adventurous one and be the second to touch the tree.

            She reached out her hand, palm open, and put it on the trunk.  She felt, suddenly, as if someone else were sharing her head with her, and she almost jerked her hand away – but it was a friendly, comforting presence, so she didn't.  She sensed Ketiya too, in the same way that she sensed the mind of the tree, but it was more removed from her.  "It's all right," she assured Crono and Marle.  "Go ahead."  Marle put a hand on the tree, and her mind appeared in Lucca's senses.  Crono took a deep breath and put his own hand on the tree.  And finally, cautiously, as he looked questioningly into the branches, Jack put his hand on the tree trunk.  Now they were all part of the network.

            The Lady spoke, her words going into their minds without using their ears.  **Welcome, children,** she said.  She was, Lucca understood, addressing Ketiya and Jack as well as Crono, Marle and Lucca herself.  **I have been waiting for you.**  **I know what you seek; I can help you to find it.  But before I can do that, I am in need of your help.**

            "What…do you want us to do, exactly?  If you don't mind me asking?" Marle inquired.  The Lady seemed to smile gently at her.

            **I will start from the beginning,** the Lady announced.  As she began to speak, images and impressions flooded Lucca's mind, immersing her in the history that the Lady related to them.

~***~

            A long time ago, this valley was not hidden as it is now, outside the time and space occupied by the rest of Earth.  It was part of that world, the center of a great kingdom, some of which still remains – you have traveled through it.  It used to be vast, so vast that it would take you a month to walk straight from one edge to the other.  There were many other cities like Kalvalen, many more intelligent trees and magical beasts of all kinds.  But that was before the demon came.

            He set his sights on the kingdom, for it was full of magic and he coveted it.  He sent hordes of demons and his own mortal armies to invade it.  The land and its people fought his armies, the _aiewan_ and the trees and the other good creatures of the kingdom, and they kept the demon's horde from the valley.  But the price was high; countless were lost in the war, and the other great cities of the kingdom were destroyed.  I could not protect the entire kingdom with my magic, only the heart of it and some of the surrounding lands.  I used my magic to hide this valley, the center of my kingdom, in a realm away from Earth.  I have managed to keep this valley and some of my old kingdom free from the taint of the demon, though he has tried to invade it many times.

            After a few centuries, he ceased his attempts to take over the rest of the land, and left me and my people in peace for a while.  But only because he was building up power for a much greater assault, which he is now launching on the northern border of my kingdom.  I do not have enough soldiers stationed there to drive out such a great force, and I fear that if they are not stopped, they will destroy all that remains of my kingdom beyond this valley – and then the demon will be able to strike at Kalvalen itself, and take my magic to use for his own purposes.

            But I am preparing to strike back.  In a few days, my own armies will go north to fight the demon.  Even that, however, may not be enough.  That is why I need you – you, who my loyal retainer has brought to me, are the greatest warriors on this world.  With your help, the demon's army can be defeated, and my people will be safe.  I know that what I ask of you is difficult, but if you give me aid, I will be able to help you find your way home.

~***~

            **What say you, then?** the Lady concluded.

            Jack had already made his decision.  "I will help you."

            "And so will we," Marle added.  "But we have some problems…"

            **I know,** the Lady interjected,**  Your magic is not this world's magic.  I can give you access to that…but it will hurt.  Such things do not come without a price.**

Crono nodded.  "We can handle it."  There was a pause, while the Lady considered this.

            **Very well.  Ketiya, Jack, step back from me.**  Jack removed his hand from the Lady's trunk – he was disoriented for a moment when he lost contact with her and the minds of the others.  Ketiya came around to him from the other side of the Lady, where she had been standing, took his arm gently and turned him so that he was facing away from the tree.

            He looked at her, wondering why she had felt it necessary to turn him away.  "You don't want to see this," she told him softly.  She even went so far as to walk him farther away from the Lady.

            They were in the cloisters before it started.  Jack could not see or hear what was happening behind him, but somehow he could sense it.  He knew, without being able to explain how, that something terrible was happening behind him.  His instincts told him to turn and face it, to fight it if he could.  Ketiya tried to keep him from doing so, but she was not strong enough to prevent him; he whirled around to face the tree, and the terrible feeling screaming in the back of his head intensified as he did so.

            The three youths were still touching the tree, all of them obviously in a great deal of pain, but keeping the contact despite it.  Crono was surrounded by a bright aura of crackling lightning, Marle by a swirling cloud of snow and ice, Lucca by dancing flames.  The leaves of the Lady were shaking as if being blown around as if in a violent tempest, but there was no wind here other than a soft breeze.

            Suddenly, it was all over.  The leaves settled into calm again, and the auras that had surrounded the young ones winked out.  They collapsed, gasping and shuddering, to the ground.  Jack ran up to Lucca, who was the closest, and helped her to her feet, while Ketiya attended to Crono and then Marle.

            "Are you all right?" he asked.  Lucca looked up at him and blinked, as if she were looking into a blinding light.

            "I will be, soon enough," she answered, her voice sounding a little hoarse.  "Thank you."  She stood up straight and automatically adjusted her glasses before putting her hand on the Lady's trunk again.  Despite his worries over what had just happened – whatever it was that had happened – Jack did the same.  The minds of Ketiya, Crono and Marle appeared in his awareness a few moments later.

            **Now you will be able to use your magic,** the Lady said, her thoughts feeling the same way that Lucca's voice had sounded a minute ago.  **You should rest now.  Tomorrow, we must make other preparations.  Until then, my servants will provide for all your needs.  Be well, my children.**

            That was obviously the conclusion of the audience – everyone drew back from the Lady and prepared to leave.  Jack bowed to her respectfully, even though he felt a little foolish in doing so.  She was, after all, a queen, and protocol demanded it.

            Illyn and his attendants were waiting for them on the other side of the double door.  They were escorted from there to a small courtyard garden with a fountain in the center.  Glowing spheres set high on the walls provided a good deal of light to see by.

            "Your quarters are the rooms surrounding this garden," Illyn said, gesturing towards the courtyard.  "I have assigned a servant to attend to each of you.  Dinner will be served here within the hour.  Be well, and if there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to ask."  He bowed to them, and they returned his bow respectfully.  The Governor left with some of the attendants, but five of them stayed behind, three women and two men – the servants assigned to them.

            It was not often that Jack got a decent meal and a real bed to sleep in, so he appreciated this hospitality very much indeed.  It was hard to believe that a place like this could exist in a world ruled by Aku.  Perhaps when he returned home, he would send explorers to see if they could find the Lady in his own time…

            But that was a long way from the here and now.  He would enjoy his stay in this place while he could.

~***~

            Ketiya usually stayed in much simpler quarters when she was here, but since she was assigned to work with Jack and the others, she got to stay in a nice guest room near them.  Well, guest apartment, since it had a front room and a bedchamber in the back.  That was good, but the personal servant was a bit much.  Upper-class _aiewan_ folk usually had a servant to help them bathe and dress, but Ketiya was human and about as far from upper-class as one could get.  She chased the servant away as politely as she could so she could take her bath in privacy in the tub beside the bedroom fireplace.

            When she got out, she found that her clothes had been taken for laundering.  Instead, there was a blue-green silk dress waiting for her – hmm.  She wondered if the others were getting new clothes, too.  That got her to wondering what Jack would look like wearing trousers instead of a robe; then she gave herself a mental slap for thinking about it.

            She felt that it would be a crime to wear her hair in its usual braid with this dress, so she put it up in a half-ponytail instead.  She took a look at herself in the mirror and was a little surprised by her own reflection.  It bore very little resemblance to the self she knew…

            "Dinner is ready, Ketiya-_jiya_," her servant informed her.  Ketiya thanked the woman and went out into the courtyard, where a carved wooden table and folding chairs had been set up.  The smell of the food made her stomach rumble, but she would have to wait until everyone else was ready.  Manners didn't mean very much to her, but they meant a lot to other people.

            Crono and Marle were already outside, sitting on one of the stone benches beside the fountain and holding a whispered conversation between themselves.  Crono was now in fine a blue tunic and leggings, Marle in a pale green dress of the same style as the one that Ketiya was wearing.  As she approached, Crono looked up at her and his eyes widened.  Marle turned to look at her, seemed surprised for a moment, and raised an eyebrow.

            "What is it?" Ketiya asked.  She didn't know what the problem was, but it became even more confusing Marle jabbed her elbow into Crono's ribs.  He winced and rubbed the point of impact with his right hand.  Marle smiled innocently at Ketiya, then whirled on Crono and narrowed her eyes threateningly.  Crono held his hands up defensively.  Now what was _that_ all about?

            "Good evening everyone!" Lucca called as she emerged from a door to Ketiya's left.  In a purple dress and without her helmet on, she was pretty enough to turn a few heads, though her glasses spoiled the effect to some degree.  "Wow, Ketiya, you look nice."

            "Thanks.  So do you," Ketiya said with a smile.  Now she knew why Crono had been staring at her and why Marle had thumped him for it.  The knowledge gave her some measure of pride.  What would Jack think when he saw…for some reason just thinking about it made her uncomfortable.  She wondered if she could get a Ranger dress uniform instead, before he arrived.

            But she didn't have time – Jack stepped out of his room a moment later, dressed in an outfit like Crono's except that it was white and gray, like the robe he usually wore.  The clothes didn't make him look much different from usual.  He bowed to greet them, but when he straightened up and saw Ketiya, he stopped suddenly.  The look in his eyes made her feel very strange, although not necessarily in a bad way.

            Marle's giggle broke the spell.  For some reason, Ketiya didn't feel like glaring at her for it.  She deliberately avoided meeting Jack's eyes as she turned to the table.

            "All right," she said, "We're all here.  Let's sit down to dinner."

~***~

            Late at night, in a small moonlit courtyard in the palace of Kalvalen, a man and a woman were sitting on a stone bench beneath one of the trees.  The sword that the man usually wore at his hip was leaning against the side of the bench.  He and the woman were having a quiet conversation.  It was a conversation filled with a lot of awkward silences, a lot of lowering of the eyes, and a nervous smile or two. 

            At some point in this conversation, when the woman was looking down at her hands folded in her lap, the man gently took those two hands in his own.  She looked up at him, surprise evident on her face.  He spoke her name, and three words.

            She just looked at him for a moment, not really believing what she had just heard; then she smiled.

            They shared a kiss in the moonlit garden, while leaves fell around them like spring blossoms.  


	10. Chapter 8: Love and War

Chapter 8: Love and War

            Marle was beaming with pride the next day.  "Was I right about them or _what_?" she said for about the tenth time as she and Crono explored the halls of the palace.  Lucca was with the mages, figuring out a way to make her gun work in the intense magical field of the Lady's kingdom.  They hadn't seen Ketiya since breakfast, where she had seemed very distracted and had barely spoken at all.  Jack had apparently left to wander around the palace long before the rest of them had woken up.

            "Yes," Crono sighed, rolling his eyes.  "You were right.  Big whoop."  He tried to distract her.  "Look at this one here.  The tiles are so tiny that you can hardly…"  But Marle, he saw, wasn't really paying attention.

            "It's just so sweet, don't you…"

            "_Marle_!"

~***~

            The arrow _thunked_ into the edge of the practice target.  Ketiya drew another, fired it, and missed the target completely.  She had started firing on the practice range an hour ago, few of her shots had been good ones and they had been getting steadily worse as her arms grew tired from the strain.  But she wasn't really doing this for its own sake.  She was doing it to keep her hands occupied while her mind worked.

            What had she been _thinking_?  It had all made perfect sense when it was actually happening, but in the light of day she saw how foolish it had been.  The two of them…it wouldn't work.  It could never work.  When all this was over, she would have to stay and finish her term of service with the Lady – a year and a day, which meant another five months.  She couldn't go back on a promise.  And if this all worked out, Jack would be able to return home, two thousand years away. If it didn't, he'd have to look for some other way back.  Either way, he'd have to leave, and she wouldn't be able to go with him.

            She fired another arrow.  This one hit close to the bull's-eye.

            The relationship between them, such as it was, could only cause them pain.  They would have to part ways soon, as they had done more than a year ago.  It would have been difficult anyway: they both knew that.  What had happened between them last night made it infinitely worse.

            _Why did he have to say "I love you?"_ she thought to herself as she let another arrow fly, feeling tied up inside.  The arrow ended up a closer to the edge of the target than it did to the center.  He'd said the words.  He'd kissed her.  It was all _his_ fault.

            But she'd made the first move.  She'd held his hand, when they were walking in the chill, dead mist between worlds.  Maybe even before that, when she had decided to travel with him shortly after they had first met.  It was her own fault.

            She fired another arrow, which barely hit the edge of the target.  It came loose and fell to the ground a few moments later.

            There was only one sensible thing to do; tell him that they had to break it off, before it got even worse.  But how was she going to tell him?  She drew another arrow, pulled it back…

            "Ketiya?"

            The shaft ended up stuck in the ground about halfway to the target.  She had been so preoccupied that she hadn't noticed him approach.  She spun around to face him, saw his eyes flick to the target that she had been practicing on.  His expression was one of mixed concern, guilt and nervousness.  He was trying much too hard to hide it.

            "Good morning, Jack.  I didn't see you at breakfast."  That had just slipped out.  What a stupid…

            He bowed to her, but when he stood up again he did not look into her eyes.  He looked down at his hands instead.  "I am sorry.  But I had to think about something.  Please forgive my inappropriate behavior."  Jack looked up at her, and she couldn't help but think of a kicked puppy.

            Ketiya sighed.  "You don't have to apologize for not being at breakfast," she said, before she realized that he hadn't been talking about that at all.

            He shook his head.  "No, that is only the smallest part of it.  I fear that I acted…selfishly last night."  Maybe it wouldn't be that difficult to break it off, after all.  That should have been a relief, but it wasn't.

            "It was my fault too," she assured him.  She looked down at her boots.  "It wasn't a good idea, was it?"

            "No, it was not.  Which is why…"

            "It would be best to pretend it never happened?" Ketiya suggested, looking up again.  Jack nodded.  For some strange reason, the fact that he agreed with her did not make her happy.  It made her feel disappointed and more than a little angry. 

            "Again, I am sorry for what happened."

            "What do you mean?  _Nothing_ happened," Ketiya snapped.  She was just as surprised at herself as Jack was.

            "Hey!  Ketiya!  Jack!  It works now!"  Lucca saved them from further awkwardness by running onto the practice range and skidding to a stop just in time to keep from colliding with them.  Jack bowed to her, and Ketiya nodded a greeting.  Lucca looked from one of them to the other.  "Is something wrong?" she asked.

            "No, nothing's wrong," Jack and Ketiya said at the same time.  She glared at him, but he didn't take any notice of it.

            Lucca was either very polite or very oblivious, because she seemed to believe them.  "The mages cast a spell on my gun.  It works now – take a look."  She pulled her gun from her belt, set her sights on the target that Ketiya had been shooting at, then pulled the trigger.  A red burst spat forth and incinerated the target on impact, leaving no more than a smoking pile of ashes.

            "Oops," Lucca mumbled sheepishly. 

~***~

            Until recently, Fort Kulewan had been occupied by more than three hundred people.  The fort was now a ruin, and the three hundred were corpses.  A force of five hundred demons, in a variety of very unpleasant shapes, sizes, and colors were now crawling around the area, already thirsting for more blood.  They would be able to slake that thirst soon.

            Grehk, one of Aku's top generals and the commander of the invasion force, watched with approval as his underlings went about the task of razing the surrounding forest.  They were anxious to destroy something more than trees, but Aku had told him to be thorough.

            He felt the signal in his mind before the vortex of flames appeared in front of him.  The vortex became a flame-bordered window, through which Grehk could see the face of his master.  He bowed respectfully.

            "Ah, General Grehk.  Have you succeeded in your mission?" Aku knew the answer already.  He would not have been able to contact his general in this fashion if things had been otherwise.

            "My Lord," Grehk addressed him, "The spell you gave us penetrated their magical defenses without any trouble.  All the garrison has been slaughtered, and the trees are being…dealt with even now."  He could not help but smile proudly.

            Aku's grin was chilling even to Grehk.  "Good!  Hold your position for the time being – _she_ is massing her forces against us, and you must be prepared to deal with them.  The samurai has joined with her, and three very troublesome human brats as well.  They may be a threat to our plans.  I want them eliminated.  You will make sure of it"

            Grehk bowed again.  "As you wish, my Lord."

~***~

            That afternoon, Jack was sitting alone in a glade in one of the palace gardens.  He had set himself in the lotus position, his palms pressed together before him, the way he had been taught.  His eyes were closed, so he did not notice when the occasional maple leaf fluttered down from the branches of the tree above him.  His sword, in its scabbard, was resting by his side.

            Tomorrow he would be going off to war, but all he could think about was how badly he had handled things with Ketiya earlier that day.

            He had made a terrible mistake by admitting his feelings for her and acting on them in the first place.  He had not realized it, though, until the small hours of the morning, after the moon had set.  Feeling unable to face her after this revelation, he had left the guest quarters while she and the others were sleeping, eaten a simple breakfast in the kitchens and spent several hours trying to figure out what he ought to say to her.

            Jack had managed to figure out what he wanted to say, but when the time had come to say it, everything just went completely wrong.  He had been sincere when he told Ketiya that he loved her.  He still loved her.  But that was one among many things that he hadn't managed to tell her.  All he had managed to say, more or less, was that he regretted it - as if what had happened between them was no more than a foolish mistake.  True, it _had _ been a mistake, but it had been so much more than that, for both of them.

            But he had not been able to say so, and now Ketiya hated him.  He didn't blame her.  All he had managed to do was hurt her, and himself.

            Perhaps it was for the best, though.  If she hated him, then it would be easier for her when the time came for him to leave.  It would be easier for both of them.  They could just forget about each other and go on with their respective lives.  She would find someone else who loved her and could stay with her.  That thought gave him some measure of comfort.

              It was then that he heard someone singing, in a slightly off-key voice, as they passed near the garden.  He could not hear the words at first, but as the singer got closer, he was able to make them out:

_She'll promise you more  
Than the Garden of Eden_

_Then she'll carelessly cut you  
And laugh while you're bleedin'_

_But she'll bring out the best  
And the worst you can be_

Blame it all on yourself  
Cause she's always a woman to me.

            Jack didn't wait to hear any more.  He opened his eyes, grabbed his sword, got to his feet.  With a sigh of frustration he put the scabbard through his sash again and stalked off in search of some more isolated spot where he could just sit and think and be alone.  But he could not keep himself from hearing the end of the song as he departed:

_And the most she will do  
Is throw shadows at you_

But she's always a woman to me.

~***~

            "They definitely _weren't_ looking at each other.  And not in a 'shy' way.  They weren't-looking at each other in an 'I hate your guts' way."  Marle's good mood had collapsed at lunch for just that reason.  "What went wrong?"

            Lucca adjusted her glasses.  "Now that I think about it…they were arguing about something this morning."

            "About what?" Marle wanted to know.

            "What kind of person do you think I am?  I don't listen in on other people's private conversations!" Lucca hunched her shoulders and pouted.  "I got there after it was over, anyway."

            "It's not our business, Marle," Crono reminded her gently.  Her fixation on the whole business had been annoying, but her disappointment at seeing it fall apart was heartbreaking.

            But Marle wouldn't leave it alone.  "Maybe we could try and get them back together?"

            "That wouldn't be a good idea," Lucca countered.

            "Yeah, they're older than we are and we don't know them well enough to do something like that," Crono agreed.

            Lucca's brow furrowed.  "Yes, that too.  But that's not what I meant: there's a much simpler reason."

            Marle peered at her.  "What did you mean, then?"

            "We planned to take Jack to the End of Time so he can get home from there.  The _Epoch_ can fit four in a tight squeeze.  It can't possibly fit five."  She didn't elaborate.  She didn't have to.

            Marle hung her head.  "That's right.  I didn't think of that."

            Crono put a hand on her shoulder.  "They were doomed from the start.  Nothing anyone can do about it.  And we have other things to worry about, anyway."

He didn't like the long silence that took place before Marle answered.  "You're right," she said at last.  "These things don't always work out."  She frowned.  "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

~***~

            The next day – the day of their departure from Kalvalen and the valley – was warm, clear and bright.  But nobody was taking time to enjoy the good weather.  They were preparing for war.  The five of them were in the palace armory, getting some extra equipment.

            "One hundred Rangers, one hundred and fifty light cavalry, two hundred spearmen, and us," Ketiya told Crono when he asked how big their army would be.  "All that can be spared, without completely stripping every garrison in the kingdom.  Half the Rangers and spearmen, and all of the cavalry, will be joining us at Exan's Creek."

            Crono made a quick calculation.  "That's four hundred and fifty.  Fifty-five, if you count us.  What are we up against?"

            Ketiya sighed.  "As far as I know, we're fairly evenly matched as far as numbers are concerned.  But they're big, strong and nasty – not like those little imps we've been seeing, which are just nasty."  She examined the contents of a nearby weapons rack.  It contained a series of black wooden poles, each about three feet long.  Upon closer inspection, Crono noticed that that each pole was actually composed of two segments, with the divide at the midpoint.

            "Watch this," Ketiya said as she picked up one of the poles and stepped back.  She held it parallel to the ground, with one hand on each side of the midpoint, and gave it a twist.  Two new segments emerged from each end of the pole, nearly doubling its original length.  It was a collapsible staff.  Ketiya spun it experimentally, first in front of her, then to her left, then to her right.  She began to move around the room, striking out at imaginary foes.  Then she tossed it up in the air, caught it, gave it a final whirl and snapped it to a stop.  "This one's good," she decided.  She twisted the staff again, causing a slim metal blade to appear at each end.

            Crono picked up one of the other staves as Ketiya collapsed hers back into a compact pole and placed it in a little sling on the side of her quiver.  He found the wooden pole to be surprisingly heavy.  He was attempting to expand it to its full length when Lucca came in from another part of the armory, wearing a silvery chainmail shirt over her jacket.  She was holding another such shirt in her hands.  Crono replaced the staff on the rack.

            "It's really neat," Lucca said, proffering the shirt to him.  "It's no heavier than a wool sweater.  And the smith said that it'll protect you like a boilerplate."

            "Noon-forged steel," Ketiya said.  "Worth your weight in gold.  The Lady's way of looking out for you."  She grinned.  Crono took the chainmail shirt in his hands.  It was definitely made of metal but, as Lucca had said, it was surprisingly light.  The inside was lined with some sort of thick, silver-gray fabric.  Crono was about to put it on when Ketiya stopped him.

            "You had better put on a helmet or something first," she warned as she went to get a helm from a rack on the opposite wall.

             "Chainmail and hair don't mix," Lucca agreed.

            "No, actually, they mix quite well," Ketiya countered.  "It's the un-mixing that's a problem."  She placed the helmet on Crono's head and helped him into the chainmail shirt.  After he adjusted it a little, he found that it was actually quite comfortable.  He didn't want the helmet, so he removed it and put it back in its place.

            Jack and Marle came in through the entrance that Lucca had used a few moments before.  Marle was wearing a shirt like Crono's, but Jack had a sleeveless chainmail vest instead.  As soon as he came in, Ketiya walked out, without even looking at him.  He didn't acknowledge her either, although he bowed a greeting to Crono.  He was worried that Marle might make some comment about it, but she didn't.

            What she _did_ say, however, was almost as bad.  "Is everyone ready?" she asked cheerily, as if they were preparing for a picnic and not a battle.

            Jack, though, took the question seriously.  He nodded and walked to the door out of the armory.  Lucca looked at Marle, then at Crono.  Without a word, she went to follow the samurai, leaving her two friends alone in the armory room.

            Marle looked down at her feet dejectedly.  Crono went over to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders, because he wasn't sure exactly what was wrong or what he ought to say.  But it seemed to be the right thing to do, because it seemed to make her feel a little better.  She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed.  "That was really stupid of me, wasn't it?"

            "Everyone does stuff like that now and then," Crono said.

            "But it wasn't just that, it was…" Marle bit her lower lip.  "A lot of other things.  Like thinking that love stories always have happy endings."

            Crono had to think about that for a few moments.  "Maybe not always," he said, "But some of them do."  He kissed her gently.  When he drew away from her again, she was smiling.  He felt a lot better himself.

            "Thank you, Crono," she whispered, snuggling her head into his chest.  After a few moments, they heard shouting outside.  Marle lifted her head.  "We had better go," she said, "So they don't leave without us."

            "Yeah, don't want to miss all the fun," Crono remarked.  Marle gave him a playful slap on the cheek and they both laughed.

            They left the armory hand in hand, with Marle leading.  _Not all love stories have a happy ending,_ Crono repeated silently to himself, _but at least ours will._


	11. Chapter 9: Samurai Crono

Chapter 9: Samurai Crono

            They reached Exan's Creek by sundown and met up with the rest of the force.  Most of the army was camped in the forest outside the town, and among the fires and tents the air was thick with the nervousness that always came before a battle.  Ketiya wandered through the camp, trying to find the three kids.  She was supposed to stay with them, but Jack was with them and she had been avoiding him all day.  She'd been so curt with him yesterday morning, so out-and-out horrible, that she could hardly stand herself most of the time.  And when she was near him, she couldn't stand herself at all, she wanted the earth to swallow her up.  He didn't really love her – she could deal with that.  But after what she had done, he didn't even _like_ her anymore.

            _Don't think about that.  Get down to business._

            "Have you seen a human boy, about yea high, with red hair?" she asked a group of soldiers gathered around a campfire.  They shook their heads and mumbled apologies.  With a sigh, she continued her search.

~***~

            "Y'know, for military rations, this stuff isn't so bad," Marle remarked as she chewed on a piece of jerked meat.  Jack forced himself to eat his own dinner – he had not had much of an appetite since yesterday morning, but prudence and experience directed him to eat anyway.  He was used to not knowing where his next meal would come from.

            Lucca laughed on the other side of the campfire.  "Well, we've eaten worse.  Remember the lizard?"  She grinned mischievously.

            "Oh yes.  I remember the lizard," Crono said, rolling his eyes heavenward.  "How could I forget?"

            Jack felt that he knew the three well enough to ask "What about this lizard?"

            "Well," Lucca began, "Remember we told you about Ayla?"  Jack nodded.  "Anyway, at the party she threw for us, they had this fruit drink…"

            "Lucca!  Don't tell him!" Crono exclaimed desperately, throwing his hands up in the air.

            Lucca continued anyway.  "It had alcohol in it, but we didn't know.  Anyway, Crono drank a lot of _mphhh_!"  This last because Crono had put his hand over her mouth to stop her.

            But Marle picked up where she had left off, grinning from ear to ear.  "We all drank a lot of it and got kind of tipsy, and then one of the tribesmen dared Crono to eat a…"

            "Ack!  _Shutupshutupshutup!_" Crono insisted as Lucca twisted out of his grip.  He tried to capture her again but she managed to evade him.

            "…A _live lizard!_  And he..."

             But Jack never got to hear the rest of the story, because at that point Captain Maelwar stepped out of the trees to join them.  Her eyes fell on Crono and Lucca.  Though her gaze could not really be called disapproving, there was something in it that made the two of them decide to stop chasing each other and sit down by the fire again, looking very sheepish and muttering greetings to her.  Jack kept himself from laughing at the whole situation, as it would have been a very inappropriate thing to do.  Instead, he stood up and bowed to the Captain, who saluted him and took a seat by the fire.  Jack sat down again as well.

            "Good evening, all.  I have come to discuss our plans for tomorrow."  She looked around.  "Where's Ketiya?"

            "Over here, ma'am."  Ketiya stepped out from among the trees off to the side.  Her presence put him on edge, especially since she had appeared so suddenly.  He did not look directly at her, for he did not think he could bear to meet her eyes.

            Captain Maelwar looked from Ketiya to him and back.  "Sergeant, I must speak to you for a few moments."  There was some anger in her voice, and something else that Jack could not quite grasp.  Ketiya nodded to the Captain, looking more than a little nervous.

            Maelwar turned back to the others.  "We'll be back in a few minutes," she assured them.  She and Ketiya walked out of sight and out of earshot to have their conversation.

            Crono, Marle and Lucca exchanged glances with each other, but none of them looked at Jack.  The joviality of a minute ago was replaced by uncomfortable silence.  Jack looked down at the ground in front of him and waited out the endless minutes before Maelwar and Ketiya returned.

            "Crono, Marle, Lucca," Malewar addressed them, "I am going to take you to see Captain Dioth, who will be commanding the left flank infantry.  Get your things together."  Her tone of voice brooked no argument, and the three youths did as she said.

            Marle looked from Jack to Ketiya.  "Good luck tomorrow," she said softly, "And if something happens…thanks for everything."  She joined Lucca and Crono at Captain Maelwar's side.

            "Bye," Lucca said simply.  Crono just nodded at Ketiya, then at Jack, before they left with the Captain.

            Jack risked a glance at Ketiya, who looked after the departing group for a few moments.  Then she turned and looked directly at Jack.  He wanted very much to look away, but he forced himself not to.  Much to his relief, Ketiya gave in first.  She lowered her eyes, ran a hand through her hair and sighed.  "We need to talk," she said, as if she had to struggle with each word.  She sat down by the fire in the place that Lucca had occupied, a little to his right.  Feeling a mixture of hope and apprehension, he shifted to face her.  The firelight flickered strangely in her eyes.

            "We're supposed to work together tomorrow, on the right infantry flank," she told him.  "But we can't go into battle together if we can't even talk to each other."  She looked at the fire for a moment, then back at him.  "I'm sorry I snapped at you yesterday.  The…the other night was my fault as much as yours.  We can't…"  She shut her eyes as if she were in pain.  "I'm sorry for being so childish about it."

            Jack took a few moments to form his response.  "I forgive you, but I must ask that you forgive me as well.  I did not mean to hurt you."  She opened her eyes again.  He did not feel so uncomfortable meeting her gaze this time.  "I would like for us to be friends again."  That was actually less than ideal, but the circumstances were far from ideal; it was simply the best option for both of them.

            Ketiya regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, the light and shadows moving over her face with the flickering of the campfire.  Then she smiled.  "And so would I.  So that's it – just like old times."

            They shook hands on it, although Jack knew that, though they had mended their friendship, it could never be quite the same as it once was.

~***~

            Marle and her friends had spent the night camped with Captain Dioth's infantry division.  It was now midmorning, and they had not seen Jack or Ketiya since last night.  Captain Maelwar had said that the two would be in the right flank division.   Marle had thought that Ketiya would be grouped with the other Rangers, but the Captain had decided to have Ketiya aid the samurai instead, although she did not say why.

            There was a strange smell in the air, an unpleasant smell, that Marle could not identify.  But she knew what it was when she saw distant plumes of smoke twisting into the sky.  It was a big fire, or the aftermath of one, which meant that they were getting close.  Marle held her crossbow in a tight grip.

            Eventually, the army arrived at the scene of the devastation.  A great swath of land had been razed, everything on it burned to the ground.  The smell of charcoal was almost unbearable, and the blackened ground left stains on everyone's shoes and trousers.  The army changed formation, spreading out into lines now that they had the space.  Marle and her friends went with the sergeant that they had been assigned to.

            "This is making me nervous," Crono confided to her through gritted teeth.  "Why haven't we been attacked already?"

            Lucca frowned at him.  "That's a _good_ thing.  We have time to get ready for them."

            "What I'm worried about," Crono said, "Is that _they_ may be getting ready for _us_."

~***~

            The watchtower of Fort Kulewan was still standing – from it, Grehk could see the _aiewan_ army massing on the edge of the burned land far away.  He turned to his aide-de-camp, a misshapen creature with a forked tongue.  "Tell the troops to get ready.  Today we will slay for our Lord, and feast on the flesh of our enemies."

            "Yessss, massster," the aide replied, before he slithered down the ladder to the ground below.

            Grehk spread his great wings, launched himself off the tower and circled over his troops, watching as they readied themselves for the assault.  Some other flying demons rose into the air to join him.  They were all eager for battle, and Grehk in particular was eager to battle the warriors that were causing his master so much trouble.  He would see to their destruction personally.

~***~

            On the right flank of the _aiewan_ army, behind the lines of archers and cavalry, Ketiya pointed at something in the distance.  "Look.  There they are."  She fitted an arrow to her bow.

            Jack peered in the direction she had indicated.  Because the demons of Aku's army were as black as the burned land they marched on, he had a difficult time seeing them at first.  He gripped the hilt of his sword, though it would be a while before he had to draw it.

            "I'm going to join the line of archers up front, but I'll rejoin you after the cavalry charge," Ketiya informed him.  "You never know, the extra bow might help."

            "Are you sure that we will be able to find each other again?"  He knew that she could take care of herself, but the thought of being separated from her during the battle still worried him.

            She grinned at him.  "It won't be a problem," she said, "As long as you wait for me."  Jack nodded and Ketiya went to the front line.

            The army of demons was closing in quickly.  It was not long before Jack could hear their roaring and screeching.  He wanted to rush forward to meet them, but he knew that he had to be patient and wait for the proper time.  But it seemed to take an eternity before the gap between the two armies was small enough for the battle to begin in earnest.

            _Wait for it…_

            When the demons were two hundred feet from the front lines, a battle horn sounded in the distance.  The Rangers on the front lines drew back their bowstrings, creating a symphony of creaks.  The horn sounded again, and though Jack was too far from the front line to hear the twanging of the bowstrings he heard the whoosh as a hundred archers loosed their arrows.  He watched as the shafts arced into the air and fell among the advancing demons, generating a series of ear-splitting, painful shrieks.  The _aiewan_ certainly had the advantage now, because they were equipped with long-range weapons, but they would not have it for much longer – in close combat, Aku's monsters would likely gain the upper hand.

            _Not yet…_

            In the meanwhile, however, the Rangers were using their bows as much as they could.  They fired a second time, a little more raggedly than before.  Jack was able to make out some of the individual demons now.  Some of them were larger versions of the imps he had seen in the forest before, but there were many other kinds as well, many worse kinds.

            _Patience…_

            The flying beasts that had been circling over the demon army suddenly shot forward through the air and dove at their enemies.  Most of the Rangers were still reloading their bows, so while they managed to shoot down some of the creatures, many of them wreaked havoc among the cavalry and infantry gathered at the rear.  The mounted soldiers and spearmen lifted their weapons to repel the airborne assault; Jack drew his own sword and leaped into the air, surprising (and dispatching) some giant insect-like beast that had tried to dive straight toward him.  It vanished in a puff of black smoke as his sword cleaved through it.  Others were not so quick or fortunate as he, and a number of demons managed to sink talons and teeth into flesh before they could be killed.  But the ranks managed to hold together all the same, while the Rangers continued firing at the charging demons that were now less than fifty feet away.

            _Almost…_

            There was another call on the horn, different this time, and the Rangers fired their last volley of arrows over the heads of the charging cavalry.  With shouts and cries of "_Kay Ellewyn_!" they slammed into the oncoming horde, driving back the front line of demons.  Some beasts slipped through the charge, but most were taken care of by the point-blank shots of rangers and the spears of the infantry before they could do any harm.  Jack impaled a tentacled thing on the point of his sword.

            _Just a few more moments…_

Ketiya loped up to him a few moments later.  Her bow was in the quiver on her back, as she had put it away in favor of her blade-tipped staff.  "Did I miss anything interesting?" she panted as she took a place by his side.  How she could make jokes at a time like this…

            _Now!_

            The horn sounded again, and the cavalry drew back.  Their numbers had been reduced somewhat, but they had managed to hit the demons hard.  The infantry rushed forward, as did the Rangers, now wielding staves for close-range fighting.  Ketiya and Jack charged with them, and the battle was truly joined.

~***~

            "_For Guardia!_" the three of them cried as they charged.  It was the best they could come up with on short notice.

            Lucca was the first of them to make a hit, vaporizing a wolf-headed creature with her gun.  Marle shot a crow-man that was trying to dive at her, but only managed to wound it with her crossbow bolt.  She barely managed to roll out of the way in time as its claws scored the ground where she had been standing.  It swooped upward and dove again with a shriek, but was transfixed by a Ranger's arrow and dissipated into smoke in midair.  Marle turned to thank the archer before engaging her next target.

            She found herself facing a creature that looked like a cross between a porcupine and a toad.  It shot out a sticky tongue and caught her, pinning her arms to her sides.  But as it was drawing her back into its mouth, she started drawing on her magic – she was glad to have it again – and cast it along the toad's tongue.  The creature looked very surprised and more than a little distressed for the few seconds before Marle's spell froze it completely.  A shot from Lucca shattered the tongue, and another destroyed the toadsicle.

            Marle elbowed some nasty thing that was trying to jump on her, then turned around and gave it a good kick before firing her crossbow bolt straight into its face, or what passed for its face.  As it vanished, she noticed a wounded _aiewan_ spearman lying on the ground nearby; there was a great gash in his chest.  Their eyes met, and she could see his desperation – he was losing a lot of blood.  She could heal him, though.  Marle ran to him, but before she could get there a great manticore leaped on the unfortunate soldier and devoured him in two bites.  Marle was too shocked to do anything for a few moments, until the monster looked at her and…_laughed_.

            She was good and mad now.  With a roar of fury she charged the chimera, shooting it with her crossbow and building up power to throw a big iceball at it.

            But her shots were little more than pinpricks to the thing.  It leaped into the air and landed almost on top of her, then opened wide its mouth to consume her as it had the soldier.

            Marle was not one to panic in the face of danger, however.  She raised her crossbow and fired straight into its open jaws.  It looked terribly surprised for a moment – then its eyes rolled back in its head, and it began to collapse.  Marle leaped back as it crashed to the ground and vanished.

            "Marle!" she heard Lucca call to her left.  "A little help here? Please?"

            She turned to see her friend in the middle of a rapidly closing circle of enemies.  Marle ran over as fast as she could, shouting "Get ready for an Antipode!"  She tapped into her magic again, then extended some of it to Lucca even as she felt the flaming touch of Lucca's own power.  They wove the spell between them, and when it was ready Marle shouted "_Now!_" and they let it fly.

            The creatures that had made the mistake of harassing Lucca didn't realize they had been frozen until they were in the process of being broiled. It didn't kill all of them, but it took care of most of the problem.  One of the wounded creatures lashed out at Lucca with a clawed hand.  It put her off-balance but, because of the chainmail, it didn't pierce flesh.  She responded with a blast from her gun.  Marle shot an antlike beastie that was coming up behind her and joined Lucca, so that they were standing back to back.

            "Where's Crono?" Lucca asked.  Marle felt a surge of panic when she realized that she didn't know.  He could be hurt, or eaten, or something worse!

            But her fears were quelled almost instantly: a many-eyed goliath was suddenly surrounded by a nimbus of lightning, and it had barely had time to fall to the ground before Crono jumped over it and joined with them.

            "Don't wander off like that!" Marle scolded as she shot a giant red-eyed bat.

            "I wasn't _wandering_," Crono corrected.  "I had some problems with a big snake.  A _really_ big snake."  He impaled an alligator-headed something on his sword.

            "Okay, fine," Marle conceded, "But don't expect to get off on that excuse next time."

~***~

            Jack sliced the demon from its left shoulder to its right hip, then reversed his grip on the katana's hilt and drove the point backwards into an imp that was trying to leap on him from behind.  He whirled around, adjusted his grip on the sword once more, and with a backhand slash took the leftmost head off a three-headed wolf.  The other two were still functioning, though, and snapped at him viciously.  One came very close to sinking its teeth into his arm, but he managed to pull back and the jaws clicked together on empty air.

            But while the creature was concentrating its efforts on him, it was not watching for other attackers; it finished its existence on the business end of an _aiewan_ rider's spear.  Jack could not take time to thank the rider, however, since he had to defend himself from a huge, armored lizard whose sharp teeth were as long as his forearm.  It also had a very long tail, which he did not notice until the creature swung it around to sweep his feet out from under him.  Jack leaped in time to avoid it and landed on top of the gargantuan lizard's head.  With a loud cry he plunged the point of his sword into the crown of its head.  It screamed and began to thrash around, trying to throw him off.  But Jack held tightly to the hilt of his sword and kept his balance until the thrashing became squirming, and then until the squirming became twitching.  Only then did he pull out his sword and leap down from the beast's head, just before it dissipated into smoke.

            He heard a snarling roar behind him and turned to see a black lion charging at him, its metal claws and fangs flashing in the sun.  It tried to pounce on him but he dodged out of the way.  The demonic lion adjusted its position in midair and came down facing him, its teeth bared.  Jack held his sword before him and regarded the beast calculatingly.  The two circled each other, looking for a chance to strike.

            The two struck at the same time, leaping at each other, but never made contact – something wrapped itself around Jack's ankle and yanked him away from the lion.  It was not a friendly something, but a long black tentacle belonging to a many-eyed behemoth that was now swinging him up over its gaping maw.  He tried to slash at the tentacle holding him with his sword, but the creature held him in such a way that it was out of the blade's reach.  Another tentacle whipped out and wrapped around his hands, immobilizing them, and yet another twined itself around his neck.  He struggled to break the grip, but it was too strong.  The edges of his vision began to go dark…

            Suddenly there was a gurgling screech, and the tentacles holding him loosened their grip for a moment.  Jack was able to slip out of them but did not manage to right himself before he hit the ground.  He landed on his back, the wind knocked out of him, but recovered quickly enough to sit up and see what was going on.

            Ketiya pulled the end of her staff out of one of the tentacled creature's eyes and stabbed it into another.  The beast screamed again and grabbed her in a tentacle.  But Jack was already on his feet by then, and with a leap and a slash he severed the appendage that was holding his friend.

            "I owe you one!" she shouted as Jack landed on the ground.  Ketiya spun her staff and severed another tentacle with the edge of one of the blades.

            Jack took care of another encroaching tentacle with his own weapon.  "I think we are even," he replied.

            She smiled at him.  "All right.  You take care of the tentacles and I'll do the rest," she instructed.  Jack nodded and severed another tentacle near its base as Ketiya plunged her staff into the creature again.  She then gave the weapon a good twist; the many-armed beast died with a final gurgling wail.  She withdrew her staff as the creature faded and whipped around to plunge the end into a charging goat-man.

            It was then that Jack noticed a particular demon in the near distance – this one was a nine-foot-tall thing with a human-like body.  But it had some very un-human features, such as great horns and tusks, as well as a pair of huge leathery wings sprouting from its back.  A group of spearmen were trying to attack it, but it laughed and smashed them with a sweep of one of its great hands.  Then it took notice of Jack; their gazes met across the battlefield.  The great demon snarled at him.  It roared out something and pointed a clawed finger at Jack.  He and Ketiya instantly became the center of attention for all the nearby demons.

            "The large one is their leader," Jack concluded as he and Ketiya stood together, brandishing their respective weapons in preparation for the coming attack.

            "_Which_ large one?" Ketiya asked through gritted teeth.

~***~

            Crono beheaded a miniature T-rex with a quick chop and brought his sword up just in time to block the scimitar thrust of a gangling, slit-eyed ghoul.  He wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep this up for too much longer.  Although his chainmail shirt offered excellent protection against edges and points, it could not soften the impact of a blunt weapon or a hard blow, and he had been on the receiving end of many such blows.  His muscles were tired from the exertion, as was his capacity for casting spells.  He did not have time to fix either situation with a healing potion or elixir, for he was constantly fending off attacks from every quarter.

            And things seemed to be going badly for the good guys this time.  The _aiewan_ were fierce fighters, but the strength of the demons was proving too great for them.  Every time Crono looked up the number of his allies seemed a great deal less than it had been before.  But they all fought on nonetheless, and they would continue to fight until they won or died.

            Crono sliced the arms off the ghoul that had been menacing him and halved it at the waist.  Then he turned around to face the next enemy, only to find that all the demons were drawing away from him.

            All except one.  And it was a big one, nine feet tall with great curving horns and fangs.  It spread a pair of giant bat wings that blocked out the sun.  Crono held his sword in the ready position and glared at the demon, waiting for it to attack.

            He was very surprised to see it smile at him, though of course it was not a nice smile.  Its teeth glinted dangerously and its burning green eyes shone with cruel amusement.  "You possess great skill, for one so young," it remarked in a deep, grating voice.  Crono didn't reply, but that only increased the demon's amusement.  "Tell me your name, little warrior."

            "What's it to you?" Crono growled.  The demon threw back his head and laughed.

            "My master said that I should take special care in dealing with you.  Since I intend to do so in single combat, I would like to know your name first."  He drew himself up to his full height.  "As for myself, I am Grehk, and I serve the Lord Aku.  Now, little warrior, will you tell me your name?"

            "Crono!" he heard Marle call from behind him.  He turned around to face her and saw, to his horror, that she was being held in the grip of a four-armed demon.  Another such demon was holding Lucca, who was struggling mightily but to no avail.  He tried to run to his friends, but Grehk leaped into the air and landed heavily in front of him.

            "Not until you defeat me in single combat," the great demon growled.  "If you refuse my challenge, your friends will die.  You must face me first – if you win, you and your friends will be released.  If not, all three of you perish."

             Crono didn't think that he could trust this Grehk, but he had no other choice.  Marle and Lucca would be doomed if he didn't.  "All right," he said resignedly, "I'll fight you, if that's what you want."  He tightened his grip on his sword.

            Grehk's smile grew bigger.  He and Crono faced each other for a few seconds – then Grehk suddenly lashed out with a clawed hand.  Crono ducked just in time to avoid the blow and darted forward to attack with a loud yell.  But Grehk extended the claws of his other hand and used them to parry the blow.  He delivered a vicious kick that sent Crono flying.__

            Crono hit the ground with a jolt and his sword went spinning out of his hand.  He rolled to the side to avoid being crushed by Grehk's feet as the demon tried to jump on him, then grabbed his sword and got up again.  He brought it up in a blocking motion as Grehk lashed out at him with his sharp claws.  Those claws locked with the blade of his sword, and it took all of Crono's strength to keep them at bay.

            He would have to do something, and do it quickly.  Though he was too worn out to cast spells, he could use magic to enhance his strength and speed, which would give him a chance against his foe.  Crono started drawing on the magic, though he had a difficult time holding on to it, and let it flow throughout his body, lending extra energy to his tired muscles.  He pushed back Grehk's claws and took a flying leap into the air, his sword raised above his head.

            Grehk had not expected such a maneuver, and he did not react quickly enough.  Crono's sword opened a long gash in the demon's chest.  Grehk roared as his foe landed and darted between his legs, taking an opportunity to slash at them as he went.  The demon whirled around and lashed out with a fist, but Crono was moving too fast for him now.

            Before Grehk could recover from his attempted blow, Crono ran forward and slashed at the demon's abdomen.  Grehk stumbled back with a hiss and shot out with his fist again.  This time, Crono cut off the demon's arm below the elbow.  Then, changing his grip on the katana's hilt, he jumped into the air and drove the point of it straight into the demon's chest.

            Grehk emitted a loud, earsplitting roar, and the beasts that formed the circle around him echoed his cry.  But even before he collapsed Crono was moving again, this time towards the beasts that were holding his friends.  Marle and Lucca's captors – as well as the other demons – lost all courage with the death of their general and turned to flee.  Crono didn't go after them.  He was more concerned about his friends right now.

            "Are you all right?" he asked Lucca.  He turned to Marle.  "Did they hurt you?"  Lucca's response was a nod.  Marle's, however, was a lot more enthusiastic – she hugged him so tightly that he had trouble breathing.  But, all things considered, he was glad for it.

            "They're running away!" Lucca cried.  Marle loosened her grip (Crono took in a much-needed lungful of air), and she and Crono turned to see that it was indeed true – Aku's forces were fleeing in panic, with the _aiewan_ army hot on their heels.  Most of the demons were slain before they could reach the trees at the edge of the blackened plain that they had created.

            The three friends got to their feet just before they were surrounded by a crowd of cheering _aiewan _soldiers.  Crono sheathed his sword and looked around, feeling completely overwhelmed by…well, just about everything.  And it became ten times more bizarre when someone shouted "Huzzah for Samurai Crono!"

            _What?!_

            Both Marle and Lucca burst into laughter, but Crono was too shocked to think that it was funny.  The cheer was taken up by almost all the other soldiers.  "_Huzzah for Samurai Crono!_"  Feeling utterly self-conscious under the weight of all the attention, he exchanged glances with his two friends, searching for some explanation.  All they could give him was a shrug and a grin each.

            "Hey!  Over here!" he heard Ketiya yell.  He turned his head and saw her and Jack making their way through the crowd towards him, both looking as ragged as he felt.  The two finally managed to reach him.  "We saw you take down the demon," Ketiya said.  "I think you just won the battle for us."  She grinned brightly at him.

            But Crono couldn't respond to her just yet – he had to settle something first.  He turned to Jack.  "I'm not a samurai, though!  Am I?  It's not that I don't like it or anything, just that…well, am I?" he asked desperately.

            A smile crept over Jack's face, and he put his hand over his mouth as if he were trying to stifle a laugh.  That was all the answer Crono got from him.

~***~

            Aku had attempted to contact Grehk several times, but he had been unsuccessful.  He had been able to see into the area occupied by his army just a few hours ago, but now he was blocked again.  Which could mean only one thing.

            "_Bah!_" he exclaimed, slamming his fist into the wall of the citadel.  Some of the frozen flames were shattered by the blow; fragments of red and orange fell and disappeared into the depths of the Pit of Hate below.

            Curse that samurai.  Curse those brats.  He would destroy _all_ of them.  But he had to get them into his own center of power first.  How could he do that?

            Then Aku realized that he did indeed have a way to make them come to him.  They would not be able to resist – he would draw them into his trap and then…

            He grinned a terrible grin, and his laughter echoed throughout the citadel. 


	12. Chapter 10: The Best Laid Plans

Chapter 10: The Best-Laid Plans…

            The _aiewan_ buried their dead on the blackened plain, planting the seeds of trees over the graves as was their custom.  New life grew out of death – that was one of the central tenets of their religion.  The dead would nurture the new trees, and the forest would grow again.

            After all were accounted for, it was estimated that they had lost almost half their number in battle.  When added to the fallen defenders of Fort Kulewan, the total was more than five hundred dead.  But the sacrifice had been worth it, for the kingdom was now safe.

            The day after they had fulfilled their duty to the fallen, the soldiers dispersed to their separate base camps.  Most of the force would return to Kalvalen, and along with them the four heroes, three of whom were now being lauded as the saviors of the kingdom.  As for the fourth, he was secretly grateful that they were taking the attention off him.

~***~

            They had arrived back in Kalvalen late last night.  The Lady would be seeing them late this afternoon.  In the meanwhile, the five of them were spending their time in various ways.  Marle and Lucca were teaching Ketiya how to play a game called 'hackey-sack,' while Jack was giving Crono a quick lesson on sword-fighting techniques.

            Ketiya kicked the little beanbag to Lucca, who passed it on to Marle.  Marle kicked it up and down a few times while looking in Crono's direction.  He and Jack were talking, so he didn't notice her.  Marle sent the beanbag on an unexpected trajectory so that it bounced off the top of Crono's head, to be caught by Jack.  Both of them turned their attention to her, rather surprised and, in Jack's case, a little amused.

            "You've been practicing all day," Marle complained.  "Come on and have some fun, for crying out loud."  She crooked a finger and beckoned to Crono.

            He exchanged glances with Jack, who shrugged and tossed him the beanbag.  The two of them came over and joined the circle.

            "Ever done anything like this before?" Lucca asked Jack.  He nodded.

            Marle tossed the beanbag to him.  "Why don't you start us off, then?"  She smiled.  Jack examined the beanbag before dropping and kicking it to Lucca.  She caught it neatly on her heel and bounced it, trying to figure out who she should send it to next.

            "C'mon, Lucca," Marle insisted, so Lucca kicked it to her.

            "Jack!" Marle called as she sent it to him.

            "Crono," he decided as he passed the beanbag with a deft kick.

            Crono caught the bag on one foot, then kicked it over the top of his head to the other before shooting it to "Lucca!"

            "Ketiya!" Lucca called.  Ketiya didn't catch it very gracefully – it bounced off her right knee and she just managed to snag it with her left foot.  As she did so, she thought that this game could stand to be a lot more interesting.

            Well, there was an easy way to _make_ it interesting.  "Marle!" she called, and kicked the beanbag into such a trajectory that Marle had to hop backwards a few steps to get it.

            But she didn't seem to mind.  "Crono!"  She sent it on a beeline to him, but he caught it with the tip of his foot and it shot into the air.

            He caught it on his heel and grinned at Lucca before flicking it in her direction.  She ran to intercept it and sent it to Jack with an impressive spinning kick.  She even managed to keep from falling over afterwards, though she did stumble a bit.

            "Ketiya," Jack said as he sent the beanbag in an arc over her head.  Ketiya hopped backwards, watching the beanbag instead of where she was going, and tumbled backwards into an evergreen shrub.  The beanbag added insult to injury by coming down right between her eyes.

            She blushed as the kids broke out into laughter – not unkind laughter, though – and tried to extricate herself from the bush.  Jack came over, looking rather apologetic and offered a hand to help her up.  Their eyes met for just a moment, making her feel acutely uncomfortable.  After some hesitation, she took his hand and he pulled her out of the bush.

            Ketiya stepped back and brushed herself off while Crono got the beanbag.  She wasn't sure how to feel now.  The kids would be leaving tomorrow to get fuel for their time-ship so that they could go home; Jack would be going with them, for the same reason.  Since her work with them was over, she would be staying here.  The prospect of Jack's departure made her feel both disappointed and relieved; disappointed because he was her friend, and relieved because she was having a difficult time figuring out exactly how she felt about him.

            No.  That wasn't true.  She knew _exactly_ how she felt about him, and that was the source of the problem.  She had almost forgotten about it since the battle a few days ago, but she had been reminded again by what had just happened.  It made her feel as if she had been slapped, or doused with freezing water.

            But it didn't last long.  Lord Illyn and some of his attendants entered the courtyard just as Ketiya was brushing off the last of the leaves and twigs.  He bowed to them, and they bowed back politely.

            The Governor straightened up again.  "The Lady is ready to see you now."

~***~

            Ketiya didn't go with them this time.  It felt sort of weird being here without her.  Lucca had liked the Ranger despite the woman's mischievous streak; she was going to miss her.  But it would be good to get back home.

            The four of them put their hands on the Lady's trunk again.  As soon as Lucca did so, she felt that something was wrong.  The Lady confirmed it.

            **I fear that I have done you ill,** she said, **For while you were aiding my people, your craft was stolen by the demon.**  Lucca felt her stomach drop.  She didn't ask how the Lady knew it – and somehow, she could not doubt that it was true.

            Jack shut his eyes for a moment and clenched his fist at his side.  But he recovered himself quickly.  "It was not your fault," he assured the Lady.  "But can you please tell us how we might find it again?"

            The Lady's leaves rustled.  **It has been taken to the city of Makighar, about a week's journey from here.  To this place**, she told them.  An image sprang into Lucca's mind; a great complex of buildings in the center of a smoky metropolis.  The city in her mind's eye, a dirty, noisy and crowded place, was the absolute antithesis of the one they were in now.

**He has not tampered with it, except to refuel it, **the Lady said, **But he has done so in the hope that he can lure you to him.  He knows that you will seek your craft, and he will use it against you.**

            "So we'll end up walking right into his hands," Crono remarked grimly.  "But what choice do we have?"

~***~

            Crono was the first to emerge from the Lady's courtyard.  Ketiya got to her feet as he came through the door so that she could greet him.  When he looked at her, however, she was unable to say anything – something very bad had happened.  She could just tell.

"Aku stole our ship," Crono informed her.  Marle emerged from the courtyard and the servants closed the door behind her.  "It's a trap, but there's just no other way.  We have to get it back."

Ketiya looked at Jack, whose face was set in a grim expression.  "I'm sorry…I wish I could do something to help you," she said truthfully.

"You can," Lucca told her.  "The Lady said that she wants you to go with us."  Ketiya could practically hear her own eyes go 'pop' at this news.

"Are you…are you serious?" she asked.  Lucca and the other three nodded.  It took a moment for all the implications to sink in.  "Well," she said finally, "We had better start getting ready, then."

~***~

            Crono passed the pair of binoculars to Marle.  She peered through them, examining the spaceport complex across the street, but saw nothing new.  She lowered the binoculars and heaved a sigh of frustration.  They had been standing on the roof of this building for a couple of hours now, studying their target in hopes of finding some gap in the defenses.  Said defenses consisted of a high wall topped with barbed wire, automated cameras and gun turrets, and some patrolling robot guards that looked like large beetles.  As for gaps, they hadn't found any yet.

            "How long are we going to sit here?" Marle asked for the fifth time.

            "As long as is necessary," Jack answered patiently, also for the fifth time.

            They had snuck into the city in the dead of night – they'd had to, because Jack and Ketiya were on wanted posters all over the place.  And Aku's soldiers were probably looking out for Crono, Marle and Lucca as well.  Everyone was pretty wound up because of the tension.  Even Jack's nerves seemed a little frayed, though he hid it well most of the time.

            Lucca removed her glasses, took the binoculars from Marle and peered through them.  "How smart are the robots?" she wondered aloud.

            "What do you mean?" Ketiya asked.

Lucca passed the binoculars on to Crono and replaced her glasses.  "I mean, are they creative?  Do they just run an inflexible program or are they adaptable?"

"You lost me," Ketiya confessed.

"She means do they just blindly do one thing or do they think and use strategy," Marle clarified.

Ketiya paused to think about that, but Jack answered first.  "I have encountered this type of robot before.  They are incapable of strategic planning," he said.  "They almost always behave in a predictable fashion."

"Which is?" Marle encouraged him. 

             "If they perceive a target, they will rush to attack it," he explained.  "They do not have much of an instinct for self-preservation, nor will they attempt to defend each other."  He peered thoughtfully at the spaceport.  "But we should not be overconfident," he advised.  "Aku has probably taken other measures that we are not aware of."

            "Let's just worry about what we _are_ aware of," Ketiya suggested.  She sighed.  "That's enough to worry about as it is.  What we need," she declared, "Is a plan."

            Everyone looked at Lucca expectantly.

~***~

            As soon as the hovering surveillance drone was out of sight, they darted out of the alley and took up their positions by the wall.  Ketiya, Marle and Lucca formed an outward-facing semicircle, ready to shoot at any unexpected threat.  Crono went to the foot of the wall, with a rope and grappling hook in hand.  Jack leaped to the top of the wall, slashed a section of barbed wire with his katana, and turned around to catch the grappling hook as Crono tossed it up.  He secured it on the top of the wall and nodded, then dropped down to the ground on the other side.  Crono followed, with Ketiya, Marle and finally Lucca following after, with the rope and hook in her hands.  The three of them darted behind a storage shed just in time to avoid being seen by another passing drone.  They had timed it perfectly.  So far.

            Jack could just see Lucca's lips moving as she made a silent countdown.  They had studied the patrol patterns of the drones from their rooftop perch; Lucca had plotted a course through the complex that would take them to one of the larger buildings without alerting the defense systems.  Once they got into that building, they would move on to what Lucca had called 'Phase Two' of the plan.  But they had to complete 'Phase One' first.

            "_Now!_" Lucca said in a loud whisper.  They darted behind a parked hovercar, avoiding the eyes of both a hovering drone and a rotating security camera.  Lucca was already counting again.  They made another quick dash, this time to crouch behind a stack of barrels.  Lucca nodded to Ketiya, who pulled back the arrow in her bow and prepared to fire.  A few seconds passed – then Lucca whispered "Okay" and Ketiya stood up, turned around and fired her arrow at a security camera placed above a recessed doorway.  The camera was facing almost directly away from her at the time, so it never recorded the shot that took it out.

            They scrambled into the doorway.  Ketiya and Marle prepared to shoot again, but Lucca had a different task this time.  There was a small panel by the door, with a small screen over a set of numbered buttons.  Lucca took a small device off her belt and pointed it at the panel.  The device she was holding also had a small screen and numbered buttons, but it had some buttons that served other functions as well, along with some dials and switches.  Jack had no idea what she was doing with the device, but she managed to get the door open in less than a minute.  The five of them pressed themselves against the sides of the doorway, in case there should be a security camera or a drone inside.

            There wasn't.  They darted through the door and Lucca closed it behind them.  They were in a wide metal corridor, which led to a T-junction at the far end.  Pipes and wires ran along the ceiling, and there were some doors farther down.  There was also a large sign at the junction.

            "Now for Phase Two," Lucca announced quietly.  "Find a security station."  Lucca walked toward the sign, with Ketiya on one side of her and Marle on the other.  Jack and Crono followed behind, their swords drawn, watching the door they had just come through.  She stopped a few feet from the end of the corridor; Ketiya and Marle each took a peek around one of the corners, to see if there were any cameras down the hall.  There was one on Marle's side – she took care of it.  Then Lucca went closer to the sign and examined it.  The sign featured the names of several locations – Boiler Room, Fuse Closet and the like – with little arrowheads that indicated the direction in which each item could be found.  Lucca worked her way down the list, using her finger to keep track, until she found what she was looking for.

            "Ah!  Here it is!  Security Post."  She turned right and started walking down the corridor.

            After a few more minutes of sneaking, peering around corners and taking out cameras, they found what they were looking for.  The door of the security post had a small glass window in it.  They crouched so that they would be out of sight of anyone on the other side of the window.  Ketiya took a quick peek through it and ducked again.

            "One guard, not a robot.  He has a pistol," she told them.  "I have an idea about how we might be able to handle this."  Lucca nodded and Ketiya explained her plan.  It was quite simple, but it would be extremely effective.

            Jack and Crono each took up a position on one side of the door, their swords drawn.  The others stood a ways down the corridor from them.  Ketiya cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted.  "Help, help!  He's getting away!"

            Her call had the desired effect.  The door slid open and the guard, a skinny purple creature with webbed fingers and feet, stepped into the corridor with his gun in hand.  He found, much to his dismay, that there were two points of steel uncomfortably close to his throat.  Crono smiled and put a finger to his lips.  The guard's amber eyes went wide.

            "Drop the gun," Crono instructed.  The guard did as he was told.  "Now, hold up your hands and back into the room.  Slowly."

            Once they were all in the guardroom with the door closed behind them, Ketiya bound the guard with some rope and had him stand against the wall.  Crono kept his sword near the guard's throat, just in case, while Jack took up a position by the door.  Ketiya fitted an arrow in her bow and stood in a place from which she would have a clear shot at the door, but where nobody outside it would be able to see her through the little window.  Marle and Lucca went to the bank of screens that covered one wall, and Lucca started working on the keyboard.

            "Here we go…oops," she said.  "It needs a password."  She turned to look at the guard.

            "Forget it," the guard responded bitterly.  He was smart enough to know that Crono wouldn't kill him while there was a chance of getting some information from him.

            Marle whirled around and glared at the guard.  "We're _not_ in the mood for that kind of behavior," she growled.  Before anyone could stop her, she hefted her crossbow and fired.

            The bolt _thunked_ into the wall scant inches from the guard's head.  Crono and Ketiya darted wide-eyed glances between Marle and the bolt.  Lucca did the same, but her jaw was hanging open as well.  Jack realized that he was holding his breath, so he let it out.

            It had been a drastic measure, but it worked quite well.  The guard's eyes were fixed on the crossbow bolt, and he was shaking with fear.  "Okay!" he squeaked.  "I'll give you the password!"  He rattled off a string of numbers, which Lucca entered into the computer.

            "Thanks for your cooperation," Marle told the guard with an angelic smile.  Since they had the information they needed, Crono tore a strip of cloth from the guard's jacket to use as a gag.

            "I found it!" Lucca exclaimed.  "The _Epoch_ is in bay seventeen.  Here's a map."  She pressed a button and a two-dimensional overhead map was displayed on one of the larger screens.  The buildings were white outlines on a black background.  There were also a pair of small, bright circles superimposed on the map – a green one and a red one.  "The red one is us.  The green one is the _Epoch_.  Take a careful look at that map so we'll know which building to go to," Lucca said as she started hitting keys again.

            A few minutes later, she smiled and stretched her arms.  "Automated systems are deactivated.  That means no cameras, spy drones or turrets to worry about.  But the other robots are on a separate system.  Let me see if I can…"  She bent over the keyboard again just as the screens went out and a klaxon began to sound.  "Uh-oh."  She turned to the others, looking desperate.  "Someone knows we're here."

            It had taken longer than he thought it would, but now the trap was closing on them.  "Then we should get to the ship as quickly as possible," Jack suggested.

            The others agreed.  They left the guard in the room and went out into the corridor again.  Now the noise of the klaxon was louder, and red lights were flashing everywhere.  "Which way did we come in?" Ketiya asked.  Lucca pointed in that direction, but before they could head that way a group of beetle drones swarmed out of the corridor.

            "We'll have to find another way out!" Marle shouted as she fired a shot at the robots.  One of them went down and its companions had to slow their advance in order to climb over it.

            Jack thought quickly.  "Lucca, help her cover the rear.  Ketiya, Crono, we will lead."  This strategy seemed to suit everyone.  Grouped together in that way, they ran down the corridor, with Marle and Lucca keeping the pursuit from catching up to them.

            They came to a four-way junction.  Jack could see more beetle drones coming from two of the corridors, but one of them was clear.  He pointed in that direction and they took it.  Lucca threw a fist-sized metal object into the intersection once they were beyond it.  A few seconds later, the object exploded, taking the nearby drones with it.

            There was an exit door at the end of the hall.  Since there was no time for Lucca to open it as she had the one before, she used another one of her little bombs instead.  As they ran out of the jagged hole that had once been the door, a great swarm of beetle drones converged on them.  These were larger than the ones they had encountered inside.  Jack could see, up ahead, the building that contained bay seventeen.  They would have to fight their way to it.

            Lucca threw a few more of her exploding devices to clear a path for them.  They rushed forward as more drones poured in to fill the gap.  One of them leaped at Jack and he sliced it in two without breaking stride.  Crono stabbed another one, then struck the head off a third with a backhand swipe.

            There was a sudden flash of light accompanied by a loud explosion and a wave of heat from somewhere behind him, but Jack did not turn to see what had caused it.  He slashed at another robot, ducked under a scything blade and thrust his sword forward to stab the drone that had swung it.  The bright light from the explosion settled down into flickering yellow-orange and he caught a whiff of some strong chemical.    He gritted his teeth as he felt the pain of a scythe slashing his back – with a loud yell, he turned and dispatched the robot that had done it.

            Now he could see a tower of flame behind him – perhaps one of the others had hit a fuel drum.  The flames cast a wicked light over everything; his ears were full of the sound of crackling flames and moving machinery.  He could barely hear the noises made by Lucca's gunfire, although that was fairly loud in itself.  He felt, not for the first time, as if he were in Hell.

             It took them five minutes and a lot of effort to cover the hundred feet between them and the building they were heading for.  When they got there, Lucca ducked into the doorway.  "I'm out of grenades," she explained.  "I'll need to hack this one.  Cover me."  The other four kept the drones at bay while she worked on the door.  At long last the portal slid open, revealing an empty corridor behind it.

            Ketiya nudged Crono and Marle backwards.  They took the hint and went through the door with Lucca.  During a short break in the flow of robotic beetles she glanced at Jack and nodded.  The two of them headed for the door to join their companions.

            But the door slammed closed without warning before they could get through.  Jack had managed to catch a glimpse of Lucca's horrified expression in the half-second it took for the door to separate them.  He and Ketiya turned to fight off the next wave of attacking robots.  He hoped that Lucca would be able to get the door open again.

            After a few minutes it became obvious that she couldn't.  He and Ketiya were trapped on the wrong side.

~***~

            "The panel's offline," Lucca said.  "I can't get it open."  She darted a frightened glance at Crono, then she looked at the door again.

            "Maybe we should find another way out," Crono suggested.  "We can get back to them."

            Lucca shook her head.  "I bet the rest of the doors are locked too."  She lowered her head in thought.  "But the _Epoch_ is in here somewhere.  If we find it, we'll be able to blast our way out."

            "There's only one thing we can do, then," Marle said grimly.  She leaned up close to the door and shouted, "We'll try to find the _Epoch_!  Then we'll get out to you!"  She put her ear to the door, looking worried, then stood back again.

            Crono looked down the corridor.  He didn't like this at all.  It was way too quiet.  "We'd better find it quick," he said.  Lucca got up, and they all ran down the corridor.

            "That sign says that the bays are in this direction," Lucca said.  They followed her lead and came to a large set of doors, which slid back as they approached.

            "There's something really weird going on," Marle remarked, echoing Crono's own suspicions.  But there was only one way to go.  They stepped through the doors and into a large room, one that was full of crates and tanks.  A loading bay.  There were a number of round metal doors lined up along the opposite wall, each marked with numbers from eleven to twenty, going from left to right.

            The second door from the right was open.  Crono could see the white glint of the _Epoch_ on the other side.

            "There it is!" Marle exclaimed.  She started running towards it.  Lucca and Crono followed.

            Crono's skin was crawling with suspicion.  Something bad should have happened by now.  The fact that it hadn't made him feel very, very nervous.

            Then the shadows around the bay began to move.  At first he thought it was his imagination, but then he saw that they were indeed moving, flowing and collecting in front of the open bay door.  He and his friends skidded to a stop as the shadows took shape, growing into something tall and terrible.

            The shape spread its arms and looked down on them with cruel eyes topped by flaming brows.  It grinned at them in a very nasty way.  There was no doubt now as to what it was – Jack had described that face to them, from the horns on its head to the curling beard on its chin.  

            Aku's laugh grated on Crono's ears.  "Leaving so _soon_, children?"  He lifted his right hand, and a fireball began to form in it.  "How very _rude_ of you.  You know what happens to rude children…don't you?"


	13. Chapter 11: Split Second Chances

Chapter 11: Split-Second Chances

            "No!" Crono heard Marle shout, "But I _do _know what happens to nasty demons!"  She fired her crossbow.

            Aku caught the bolt in one hand and flung the fireball at her with the other.  Marle managed to get out of the way in time, but only just.  "You have caused me a great deal of trouble," he said as he swiped at Lucca with a massive hand.  "I am going to enjoy making you pay for it."  His form began to twist in a way that hurt Crono's eyes.

            In a few moments Aku had changed himself into a gigantic wolf with a green muzzle.  He opened his jaws and leaped at Crono, who rolled out of the way and tried to slash the demon with his sword.  But it simply rebounded off his hide, and with a bat of his paw Aku knocked the sword from Crono's hand.  He opened his jaws again…

            And a fireball, courtesy of Lucca, slammed into his side.  Aku skidded into a pile of crates which fell down in cacophonous series of crashes.  As the wolf  tried to get free of the crates, Crono began to draw on his own magic.  "Let's give him a run for his money – Delta Force!" he shouted.  He, Marle and Lucca wove the spell between them.  When Aku finally extricated himself from the boxes, they cast their spell.

            There were three blinding flashes – white, blue and crimson – and Aku jerked at the impact of each.  He resumed his original shape and glowered down at them.  He was no longer amused.

            "So, you are more powerful than I thought," he admitted, "But your power cannot match mine!"  Aku lifted his fists and smashed them into the ground.  The resulting shock knocked the three of them off their feet and sent the other objects in the bay flying.  The corner of a crate hit Crono in the small of his back and sent a spasm of pain through his body.

            Before he managed to recover Aku shifted again, this time into something that looked like a velociraptor.  He bounded into the air, clearly intending to pounce on Crono and squash him flat.  But he was caught in mid-jump by a flying icicle from Marle.  Crono took the opportunity to get to his feet and grab his sword.  He sheathed it – it was useless in this fight.  He fired a lightning bolt instead, but missed and hit a pile of barrels instead.

            Lucca, however, did not miss – she transfixed the demon with a bar of white-hot flame.  Aku melted into an oily puddle and flowed toward Marle with quicksilver speed.  Before anyone could act he had grabbed her and was holding her fast.  He shifted back into his usual form, so that he was holding Marle in one hand.  He lifted the struggling girl into the air.

            "You," he hissed, "Will be the first to…what?"  Aku's eyes went wide; he cried out and flung Marle away from him, then gripped his hand as if it had been burned.  Marle hit the wall and fell to the floor.  She managed to lift herself off the ground – Crono could see that the pendant around her neck was glowing brightly.  It must have hurt Aku somehow.

            But Marle was hurt too.  She collapsed to the floor, unable to rise.  Crono and Lucca ran to her, but Aku moved in to block their way.  His eyes began to glow.

            "Crono, get down!" Lucca shouted.  She held up her hands and let forth another column of fire just as the beams shot forth from Aku's eyes.  As Lucca and the demon struggled with each other, Crono ran to Marle's side and tried to help her get up again.

            He heard an explosion and turned to see Lucca flying into a large crate.  Aku whirled on him and raised his hands again.  "Your efforts are useless!  You are only human – you cannot win."

            Crono felt something powerful and angry boil up inside him.  It mixed with the magic he was tapping, intensifying its power and rushing through him like a tidal wave.  He set Marle down gently and walked, slowly, to stand before the demon.  Aku regarded him with a mixture of curiosity and incredulousness.  Crono met him stare for stare.

            "I…never…lose," he said through clenched teeth, as the magic poured out of him.  He was lifted up into the air by the power, felt the energy crackling all through him.  He wasn't himself anymore; he was pure, unstoppable power.  Pure light.

            The shockwave of blue-green energy carried Aku across the bay and slammed him into the opposite wall.  Crono collapsed, the strange spell having taken all his energy from him.  A moment ago he had been riding on an intense wave of power, but now he felt weak and drained.  Lucca ran to him and Marle managed to get up and stumble to his side.  The three of them huddled together and turned their gazes to Aku.

            Although the Luminaire was powerful, it had not been powerful enough.  Aku drew himself up again, then melted once more and flowed toward them.  He reformed with a terrible scowl on his face and his hand raised high in the air, preparing to smite the three warriors who had no strength left in them to fight back.  Crono prepared himself for the end.

            "_Akuuuuu!_" Jack's howl caused the demon to whirl around.  He snarled as the samurai's sword bit into his side.  Marle let out a heartfelt cheer.

            Jack landed from his leap and turned to face the demon again.  He was a mess – his hair was a wild mane about his shoulders, his robe was in tatters and the cloth of it was stained with the blood of many wounds.  But his fighting spirit was as strong as ever.  He charged at Aku with his sword raised above his head.

            Ketiya appeared from behind a pile of crates.  She was hardly better off than Jack – when she darted behind an overturned barrel, Crono saw that she was running with a limp.  When she appeared again behind a closer heap of boxes, he saw that there was a long gash in her thigh.

            Even so, she grinned brightly at him.  Crono smiled back at her.  "Good to see you too," she told him.

~***~

            Ketiya went to join the three and helped them to their feet.  She was surprised that they'd managed to stand up to Aku for so long, but it had obviously taken all their strength to manage it.  None of them were in any condition to fight – and anyway, it seemed as if the battle was just between Jack and Aku now.

            Aku, now in the form of a preying mantis, stabbed one of his forelegs at Jack.  When Jack dodged out of the way he did so clumsily; he and Ketiya had fought their way into the building, and the effort had taken a terrible toll on them both.  Jack was running on reserves now, and there was no telling how long they would last.

            He knew it, too.  "Ketiya!" he shouted as he blocked a blow from Aku.  "Get them to their ship!  Get out of here!"  He jumped out of the way as Aku took another swipe at him.

            "But you…" Ketiya objected.

            "_Go!_" he roared as he slashed at his adversary.  There was no disobeying him.

            Ketiya gritted her teeth.  "All right.  You heard him, come on."  The four of them ran for the open door, toward the dock where the little white craft was parked.  Her leg was solid agony with every step, but she tried to ignore it.  As they reached the door, she thought frantically of something, anything, that she could do to help Jack.

            Lucca jumped onto the ship and pulled a lever somewhere.  The canopy of it had not yet fully risen when she was in the cockpit, opening a panel in the front of the ship.  She took something off her belt and slammed it into the panel, then closed it and pressed a button.  Inside the cockpit, lights flickered on and the sound of a warming engine accompanied the noise of the battle outside.

            Ketiya went to help Crono get into the ship – he was took weak to do it on his own – and stepped back when all three had managed to get in the cockpit.  "Go on.  We'll be…all right," she said, knowing that it was a lie.

            In the bay outside, the sound of the battle suddenly ceased.  Then she heard Aku's grating voice.  "It ends now, samurai."

            And a terrible, agonized scream followed.  Then, silence.

            _No…_

~***~

            Lucca knew what she had just heard.  Ketiya was frozen, facing the door out into the bay, from which they could hear Aku's terrible laughter.  Lucca gritted her teeth and took action.

            She leaned out of the cockpit and, with a strength she didn't know she possessed, she pulled Ketiya in with her.  She got Marle and Crono to sort the Ranger out while she prepared the _Epoch_ for a time jump.  The canopy closed over them, and Lucca set the dial as far forward as it would go.  Then she hit the large yellow button.

            She felt the familiar sensation of moving while staying in one place, and then the ship was flying through a blue tunnel.  Lucca didn't breathe a sight of relief just yet – she wouldn't do so until the ship was safely arrived at its destination.  After a few tense moments (or a zillion years, depending on where you stood), they were out of the blue tunnel, and surrounded by purple mist.  She pressed a switch and the canopy lifted again.

            There they were – the stone stairs.  They led onto a floating platform, with a lamppost in its center, and an old, moustached man in a brown coat and bowler hat standing beneath it.  He looked up and smiled when he saw them.

            "Gaspar!" Marle cried.  She leaped out of the ship and dashed up the stairs.  "We tried to follow Crono's mother but the _Epoch_ ran out of fuel and…" she fell silent as the Guru held up a hand.

            "I know.  I've been watching."  He descended the stairs to the ship and helped Ketiya to get out.  She seemed to be operating on autopilot.  She wasn't blinking, either.  Her eyes were frozen open.

            Crono and Lucca got out of the ship.  Each of them took one of her arms, and they led her to the small fountain in the corner of the platform.  Lucca took the cup that sat on the edge of the fountain, filled it with the healing water, and put it to Ketiya's lips.  Ketiya swallowed, then coughed; her wounds healed as if they had never been.  She lost her thousand-yard stare and came back to reality at last.

            But reality was something she could not face.  She began to shudder, then she fell to her knees and put her head in her hands.  "No…" she said in a hoarse whisper.  She curled into a ball for a few moments.  The three of them knelt around her.  Lucca put out a hand to touch her shoulder, but drew it back quickly when Ketiya reared up and screamed.

            The scream went on for an impossibly long time; then Ketiya collapsed into a fit of sobs.  Marle put an arm around her shoulders and made shushing noises.  Crono and Lucca exchanged glances.

            Lucca took the cup and held it in the fountain again.  She drank from it to heal her own wounds, then passed it to Crono, who drank from it as well.  Marle, however, waved the cup away.  She patted Ketiya on the back, trying to comfort her.

            "Stop your crying, woman," a cold, dry and familiar voice said.  "Tears never accomplished anything worthwhile."

            Lucca whirled around to face the speaker.  "Magus?"  It was indeed him, Magus of the pale skin and pointed ears and flowing blue hair, as proud and haughty as he had ever been.  "How did you…why…?"  Crono and Marle just stared at him.

            Magus strode up to them.  "My methods are not any of your concern, nor are my motivations."  He put a hand on Ketiya's head.  She ceased her crying and jerked upward, then turned to face him.  Her eyes were red and her face was streaked with tears.  "You can save him, you know.  I will help you do it."

            Ketiya just looked at him for a few seconds.  "How?" she asked in a raspy whisper.

            "First," Magus said, "I need to see the pendant you are wearing."  Ketiya blinked, then put a hand to her neck and drew out the pendant from beneath her tunic.  It was made from the broken blade of a red crystal dagger, one that had through lucky circumstances saved a life.  Magus took it in his hand and focused on it for a few moments.  It began to glow; then the glow faded away.

            Magus stood up again.  "It now holds enough of a charge to transport the two of you to a safe place – just touch him and it will activate the spell.  Now for the second thing."  He reached into his cape and drew forth an arrow.  He held it up so that everyone could see its silvery tip.  "All you will need is one shot, if you do it correctly."  He handed it to Ketiya, who took it and stood up.  She looked at the arrow, then put it in the quiver (empty but for her bow) on her back.

            "Thank you," she said numbly.  She was obviously very confused, but then again, so was everyone else.

            "And as for the rest…" Magus took a step back and gestured to the Guru of Time.  "Gaspar?"

            Gaspar stepped forward.  "I can send you back.  So much magic was used in that battle that it created perfect conditions for a Gate.  But you'll only have a few seconds to change things."

            "A few seconds are all she will need," Magus said.  Gaspar nodded at him.

            Ketiya stood up confidently.  "Thank you both.  I'll make good use of your gifts."  She turned to the three teenagers.  "And thank you too."  She looked down at her feet.  "I'm going to miss you all.  I wish I could repay you somehow."

            "You don't have to," Crono told her.  "Just get back and do what you have to do."

            "And when you can," Marle added, "Tell Jack that we said goodbye, and thanks for everything.  We'd never have gotten back here without him."

            "We couldn't have done it without you, either," Lucca said.  "Thank you."

            Ketiya looked at each of them, then smiled and opened her arms.  They all hugged her.  Marle started to cry.

            "I just hate goodbyes," she choked out as they disengaged.  "I have to say so many of them."  Lucca found herself wondering, suddenly, where Magus was, but she didn't see him anywhere.  He had left just as quickly and quietly as he had arrived.  That was just like him.

            Gaspar came up and touched Ketiya's arm.  "The Gate's ready.  How about you?"  Ketiya nodded at him, and followed him up another set of stairs to a higher platform.  Lucca and her friends went up as well, to see Ketiya on her way.

            "Step into the pillar," Gaspar said, "And it will take you where and when you need to go."

            Ketiya took her bow and Magus' arrow from her quiver, then fitted the arrow in the bowstring.  "Farewell to you all," she told them, "And good luck."

            "You too," Crono said.  _She's going to need it,_ Lucca thought.  But she didn't say it.  She just waved.

            "_Wait!_" Marle insisted.  Everyone turned to look at her.  She took a small vial from her belt and handed it to Ketiya.  "It's a healing tonic," she said.  "He might need it."  Ketiya took the little corked vial, looked at it, and put it in her own belt.  Marle smiled at her and stepped back.

            Ketiya nodded respectfully to them, then turned to the pillar of light.  She took a deep breath, and then a step forward.  Just like that, she was gone.

            Lucca exchanged glances with her friends.  "I hope everything works out all right," was all she could say.

            Marle was looking thoughtfully at the pillar of light.  "I have a feeling that it will," she said quietly.

~***~

            The time warp was disorienting – Ketiya felt as if she were moving very fast while at the same time standing still.  Then she found herself standing in the loading bay again.  She pulled back the arrow in the bow, preparing to fire, and looked around.

            There was Aku, with a clawed hand poised to strike, and there – her heart jumped – was Jack, on his back on the floor, looking up at Aku with an expression of defiance.  Ketiya knew what she had to do.

            She took aim as Aku spoke the words, "It ends now, samurai."  Time seemed to slow to a stop as she watched her target, feeling more focused and more confident than she ever had before.  Everything depended on this…one…shot…  She let it fly, straight and true.

            By the time the arrow had buried itself in Aku's arm, she was already running as fast as she could go.  While the demon clawed at the painful shaft in his arm, she took a flying leap, and her fingers barely brushed Jack's shoulder.

~***~

            Aku's hand came down, but when he lifted it he found that there was nothing beneath.

            With a bellow of rage, he smashed his fist into the floor.  "Next time," he said to himself, "Next time…"

~***~

            There was a flash of blue-white light, and she fell on the grass of the Lady's courtyard with an impact that jarred her bones.  But she hardly even felt it.  She dropped her bow, turned around and scrambled on all fours to Jack.  He was conscious, but just barely, and as she got to him he passed out completely.  The fingers of his sword hand went limp and his katana slipped to the grass.

            Ketiya pulled the vial that Marle had given her from her belt and ripped out the cork with her teeth.  She lifted Jack into a sitting position with her other arm and, trying to quell the shaking of her hand, put the vial to his lips and trickled the stuff into his mouth.  After a few terrible seconds, his wounds closed, and he opened his eyes.

            "Ketiya?  What just…" but he never got to finish the question, because she interrupted him with a kiss.

            He was very surprised for a moment, but then he kissed her back, and lifted his hand to stroke his fingers through her hair.

            Above them, the leaves of the Lady rustled contentedly.


	14. Epilogue: The Compass

Epilogue: The Compass

            There was hardly any green to be found in the leaves now, and the air was cooler than it had been on the day when this whole adventure had started.  So many other things had changed since that day….

            Jack felt his heart sink when he and Ketiya reached the boundary stone that marked the end of the enchanted path and the edge of the Lady's kingdom.  Because it meant that they would have to say goodbye and go their separate ways again.  He didn't know if he would be able to do that.

            They stopped walking and he turned to Ketiya.  "Are you sure you don't want me to…"

            "We already discussed this," she reminded him.  "I have to finish my service here, and you shouldn't stay for my sake.  What you have to do…it's more important than us."  Not _me_, but _us_.  She was right, and he knew it, but he still regretted it.

            She lowered her eyes and took his hands in her own.  "I read this poem once," she began, "I don't remember exactly how it went, but I remember that the poet compared himself and his beloved to the two feet of a compass – not a navigation compass, but the kind that you use to draw circles."

He nodded, although he did not understand what she was trying to say.  She looked up at him again.  "Even when the feet of the compass are spread far apart, they're still attached to each other.  They're never really separated."  She closed her eyes and caught her lower lip between her teeth.  "Am I making any sense at all?" she asked.

He had to give her an honest answer, so he thought for a few moments before replying.  "Yes, but not completely."  She smiled at him, and he forgot his sadness for a moment.  She had that kind of smile.

"Listen," she said, changing the subject.  "If you find a way home and we're not back together…promise me that you'll take it."  She looked him in the eye.  "I want you to say it.  Promise that you will."

            Instead he surprised himself by saying, "I am sorry, but I cannot.  I know I should, but…" he trailed off, and gripped her hands tightly.

            He saw tears sparkling in her eyes for a few moments.  Then she lowered her head and began to cry.  He put his arms around her, trying to comfort her even though he knew that by doing so he might simply be making it worse.  But it was all he could do.

            She returned his embrace and put her head on his shoulder.  "I love you," she whispered.  Then, a few moments later, "Even if we never see each other again, it was worth it."

            Though he tried his best to hold them back, he felt tears in his own eyes.  He buried his face in her hair and drowned in a sea of mixed elation and misery for the minute that they spent simply holding each other, saying nothing.

            It was she who finally pulled back a little, so that they were looking into each other's eyes, and put her hand on his cheek.  Then she kissed him; he closed his eyes and reveled in it, savoring the salt of their mingled tears.  He tried to make it last forever, since it would certainly be their last kiss for a long time to come and might very well be the last that they ever shared.  But, like all such things, it had to end.  They separated, and she wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.

            The wind picked up, chilling his own damp cheeks and generating a soft thunder of rustling leaves.  He would, he decided, leave with this wind, before he lost the strength to leave at all.  "Goodbye, Ketiya," he told her.  He felt that he should add something, but he did not know what else to say.

            "Goodbye," she said, and waved as she took a few backward steps down the path.  He bowed to her, then forced himself to turn in the opposite direction and go on his way.  He had only walked a few steps when the leaf blew in front of him; he reached out and caught it in his hand.  It was bright crimson, with a green center.

            Then it hit him – he understood the meaning of the compass.  It was so _simple_.  He turned around to tell her as the gust of wind faded away and died.

            But she was not there.  She had vanished among the trees without a trace.

~The End~


End file.
